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We have to be 'ruthless' in evaluating jobs programs |
| by David Jackson, USA - 06/08/2011 |
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| "President Obama said today the government can help address unemployment in part by making sure that its jobs programs actually work." |
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"We've got to be ruthless in evaluating what works and what doesn't in order for folks to actually obtain a job and industry to get the workers they need," Obama said in a jobs speech at Northern Virginia Community College.
Speaking less than a week after the unemployment rate climbed to 9.1%, Obama said: "That's how we're going to help more Americans climb into the middle class and stay there."
The president also announced that the National Association of Manufacturers has agreed to provide industry-accepted credentials to 500,000 community college graduates as part of a program to train students for 21st-century jobs. "There are a lot of companies looking for skilled workers," Obama said.
The announcement marks an expansion of a program called "Skills for America's Future," designed to partner businesses and community colleges and to create what Obama called "pipelines right from the classroom to the office or to the factory floor."
Jobs programs such as this can help fuel an economic recovery, Obama said. The Labor Department reported last Friday that the unemployment rate had increased from 9% to 9.1% -- and that the nation had lost about 5,000 manufacturing jobs.
"We've got a lot of programs out there," Obama said. "If a program does not work in training people for the jobs of the future and getting them a job, we should eliminate that program. If a program is working, we should put more money into that program."
Obama said "we are in a tough fight" to recover from a near-depression, and "there are people across America with talents just waiting to be tapped, sparks waiting to be lit."
"Our job is to light them."
Republicans say Obama's government spending and regulation policies, combined with the growing federal debt, are keeping the economy slow.
"To be blunt, people wonder whether the president is really focused on jobs when so many of his policies seem aimed at destroying them," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Before his speech, Obama toured the Virginia community college's Automotive Training Program, which is assisted by Ford Motor Co. It includes a lab with Ford hybrid vehicles.
"This is going to be the future, so you guys are on the cutting edge," Obama told the students.
JOBSEEKER REGISTRATION LINK |
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| More Details: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/obama-us-companies-want-skilled-workers/1 |
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