National Jobs For All Coalition

[irishbobcat]

N A T I O N A L   J O B S   F O  R   A L L   C O A L I T I O N

www.njfac.org.

First Friday Vigils for Federal Job Creation



WHEN: March 4, 2011, and every First Friday thereafter until the jobs crisis becomes what it should be—the first priority of the federal government. The First Friday of the month is chosen because it is the day when the Department of Labor announces unemployment data from the previous month.





THE GOAL: To  create public support for bold federal action to create jobs. The "Vigil for Jobs" in New York and other cities will tell Washington that a "jobless" economic recovery, with corporate profits at an all-time high and unemployment at nearly 10%, is unacceptable and a contradiction in terms..



In November 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15.1 million persons were officially unemployed, and another 15.2 million either wanted full-time work but were forced to work part-time or wanted a job but were not actively seeking one. That means that 30.3 million people, plus their families, are suffering from this Great Recession.  In addition, an estimated 16.3 million persons were working full-time, year-round but earning less than the poverty level for a family of four. Though federal stimulus funds have had a positive impact, they were insufficient and more action is needed.  Officials of the Federal Reserve Board now estimate that unemployment could exceed 9% in 2011 and 8% in 2012.



The most effective federal action would be direct job creation similar to the innovative work programs of the New Deal that saved families from dire poverty and despair and left a lasting legacy.  Everyone knows that our roads need repair, our bridges are dangerously eroding, our children need more teachers, working parents lack affordable child care, millions go without any health care, and the future of the planet demands a more sustainable economy. The federal government could meet these needs and, simultaneously, create jobs for the millions who lack work.



Economists working with the National Jobs for All Coalition estimate that each job saved or created by the recent stimulus cost, on average, $200,000. In contrast, direct job creation or hiring workers onto public payrolls would have cost, on average, only $55,000. Thus stimulus money could have created just over 14 million jobs, enough to have wiped out official unemployment. Direct job creation would put us on the road to real recovery from the recession and would begin to reduce the egregious economic inequality that had much to do with the financial collapse--along with creating a deep social injustice that should be considered un-American.