Washington, July 15: As a new analysis puts the average broadly defined US unemployment rate at around 20 percent, a new plan has been put in motion to encourage out-of-work Americans to start new careers.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday went to Macomb Community College — the largest grantor of associate degrees in Michigan — to unveil plans to inject $12 billion into community colleges over a period of ten years.
While community colleges in the United States currently have about 3 million graduates per year, the incumbent administration believes the investment will push the number up to around 5 million students by 2020.
At the venue, Obama linked the investment decision to the economic troubles rocking the country and said American prosperity lies in the country “tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce”.
“The hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won’t be coming back. They are casualties of a changing economy,” Obama told an audience at the popular career-preparation college.
The visit by Obama is significant because Michigan is one of several US states that suffer from unemployment rates of over 10 percent due to their heavy reliance on manufacturing and housing.
According to the broader definition of unemployment, however, the state grapples with an out-of-work rate of around 22 percent.
The broader definition, in the explanation provided by the New York Times, includes part-time workers who want to work full time in addition to people who want to work but have grown hopeless and have not looked for a job in at least four weeks.
Even though various indicators suggest that the economic output of the United States could start growing again in the summer, the economy will still be weighed down by troubled credit markets and huge household debts.
Therefore, it may take some time before growth is fast enough to persuade companies to hire large numbers of workers.
In Michigan and other such hard-hit states, however, workers that will find a job are expected to be employed in industries other than those which previously thrived in the area, including the auto industry.
The new plan by the Obama administration will help struggling workers prepare for new careers that can benefit the region by funding new college courses and their Internet-based training.
The White House also intends to promote capital fundraising campaigns at colleges that may lead to billions of additional dollars in investments to repair aging and dilapidated buildings.
According to the man who leads the plan, the US economy has been unable to create or sustain enough new jobs and has therefore necessitated this new quest for “the jobs of the future”.
“In an economy where jobs requiring at least an associate’s degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience, it’s never been more essential to continue education and training after high school,” Obama had said Sunday in a Washington Post op-ed piece.
——Agencies