Reading Room

Please click on the following links for articles and information regarding workforce.

8/26/10
Time Magazine
How the Stimulus Is Changing America
By Michael Grunwald
"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — President Obama's $787 billion stimulus — has been marketed as a jobs bill, and that's how it's been judged. The White House says it has saved or created about 3 million jobs, helping avoid a depression and end a recession. Republicans mock it as a Big Government boondoggle that has failed to prevent rampant unemployment despite a massive expansion of the deficit. Liberals complain that it wasn't massive enough."

8/23/10
CNN Money
California close to issuing IOUs again
"California is once again running out of money and may have to issue IOUs within a few weeks."

8/21/10
LA Times
Start-up lessons learned the hard way
By Sharon Bernstein
"With corporate jobs in short supply, out-of-work Americans are going into business for themselves like never before. But starting a business can be a perilous journey that most of us — even those who seem to be born entrepreneurs — can have difficulty navigating."

8/19/10
CNN Money
Jobless claims surge to 9-month high
By Julianne Pepitone
"A government report Thursday brought bad news for workers and the economy: The number of unemployed Americans seeking a financial lifeline has reached its highest level in nine months. Last week, the number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in a row, to 500,000, according to a Labor Department report released Thursday."

8/6/10
Time Magazine
The Sideways Economy
By Barbara Kiviat
"The headline from this morning's Labor Department jobs report isn't cheery: the number of people on payroll fell by 131,000 in July. That's not the direction we need to be going. The payroll number for June was also revised downward, from 125,000 jobs lost to 221,000."

7/22/10
Huffington Post
Doing Right by Those Hit Hardest by the Recession
By Secretary Hilda Solis
"A Washington newspaper recently commissioned a survey that showed that Washington insiders are experiencing the effects of the recession far differently than regular people throughout the country. They found that relatively few Washington insiders have been affected by the recession, while the vast majority of Americans have felt the pain caused by the historic economic downturn."

7/21/10
The Road To Tomorrow's Jobs, Is Not Yesterday's Training
By Julian L. Alssid
"A persistent unemployment rate of about 10% does wonderful things to focus national attention."

7/21/10
Southern California economy is beginning to gain strength, forecast says
By Ronald D. White
"Southern California's economy is beginning to gain strength, although local residents may not feel the benefits for many months, according to a forecast to be released Wednesday."

7/20/10
The Atlantic
Job Training Helps, Not Just with Unemployment
By Daniel Indiviglio
"One tactic some unemployed Americans are turning to in this tough job market is to enhance their skill sets. Indeed, even some government money is dedicated to help train the jobless so that they can be more attractive to perspective employers. Yet, a New York Times article today says that these programs aren't doing the trick, since these people often still aren't finding employment. Well, of course they aren't -- all the training in the world can't guarantee someone a job right now."

7/20/10
CNN Money
Jobless benefits extention passes Senate test
By Tami Luhby
"More than 2.5 million unemployed Americans are one step closer to having their unemployment benefits restored."

7/19/10
LA Times
Obama Pushes GOP to Extend Unemployment Benefits
"On the eve of a vote to extend jobless benefits, President Obama urged Republican senators to set aside partisanship and vote for a package that would provide relief to 2.5-million out-of-work Americans."

7/19/10
LA Times
Small Businesses Starting Despite Economic Challenges
"Starting a small business in a slow economy is not easy, but it hasn't stopped entrepreneurs from gambling on new ventures."

7/16/10
NPR
Teens, Older Workers Often Compete For Same Job
By Renee Montagne
"And here is a new economic indicator from the folks at NPR's Planet Money: there are now more people of retirement age in the workforce than teenagers. That means more people who remember the start of the DMZ than grew up watching TMZ. And it's the first time it's happened since at least 1948."

7/14/10
CNN Money
White House: Stimulus funded 3 million jobs
By Annalyn Censky
"Despite groans from Republicans about high unemployment and the growing national deficit, President Obama's administration continues to say the $787 billion stimulus is working."

7/6/2010
CNN
Why good jobs are going unfilled
By David Frum
"Good news: Despite the terrible June job numbers (125,000 jobs lost as the Census finished its work), one sector continues to gain -- manufacturing."