Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the March 2012 Employment Situation report released April 6th:

“Our nation’s labor market added 121,000 private sector jobs in the month of March, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent.

“For 25 consecutive months, we’ve registered private sector job growth. Some months we are seeing tremendous job gains, while other months we are seeing more modest gains. But the trend line is clear: Our economy is growing, and our recovery is durable.

“Since this president took office, we’ve added more than 4 million jobs to an economy that was bleeding 800,000 a month under the last administration. That’s a noteworthy achievement.

“We’ve added nearly half a million manufacturing jobs since February 2010. This week, major U.S. carmakers announced that their U.S. sales rose last month to the highest level in at least four years.  When President Obama took office, the U.S. auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Since he bet big on the American autoworker, the industry has seen a complete turnaround, adding more than 230,000 jobs since the summer of 2009.

“However, the fact that some Americans are still leaving the labor force shows that we cannot rest on our laurels and expect to coast our way back to prosperity. This administration continues to fight for programs that will support and train our youth and displaced workers. Our recovery will only be as lasting as our commitment to the American worker. Now that the country is on a steady path toward recovery, we need to invest in community colleges and job training programs that prepare our workers for 21st century jobs.”

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

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According to an analysis of the April employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), job growth slowed in March with 120,000 jobs added to nonfarm payrolls.

In March women gained 38,000 jobs (about one-third of all jobs added) and men gained 82,000. Women’s employment growth was aided by strong growth in health care (26,000 jobs added overall) and food service and drinking places (36,900 jobs added overall). The gap between women’s and men’s employment in March is 1.9 million.

The unemployment rates remained largely steady from February to March, declining for women aged 16 and older (to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent), and unchanged for men (8.3 percent). As of March 12.7 million workers remain unemployed.

In the last year, from March 2011 to March 2012, of the 1.9 million jobs added to payrolls, 635,000 or 33 percent were filled by women, and 1,264,000 or 67 percent were filled by men. Since October of 2009 when men’s and women’s total jobs numbers were virtually equal, women have gained 697,000 jobs, whereas men have gained 2,592,000, more than three times as many jobs as women.

Since June 2009when the recession officially ended, men have gained 88 percent (2.0 million) while women have gained only 284,000 (12 percent) of the jobs added to payrolls—primarily because job growth for women lagged men’s by nearly a year.

Women have regained nearly one out of three (881,000 or 32.4 percent) of the total jobs they lost in the recession (2.7 million from December 2007 to the trough for women’s employment in September 2010, which occurred more than one year after the recession officially ended). The picture looks somewhat better for men: men have gained 45.0 percent (2.7 million) of the jobs they lost since December 2007 (6.0 million).

In the first quarter of 2009, when President Obama began his term, employment was still falling steeply. With the passage of the President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009, job losses abated and turned to job growth in early 2010. In 2011 and 2012 both women and men have seen job gains.

There is still a jobs deficit relative to before the recession, however, which was the most severe since the 1930s. At the pace of job gains in March (120,000), it would take until late 2020 just to employ those currently looking for work without considering additional workers entering the labor force.

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When President Obama called on the United States to double its exports by the end of 2014, business and political leaders were strongly supportive. After all, doubling exports should create roughly two million American jobs.

Today exports already support almost 10 million jobs in the United States and have been responsible for nearly half of all U.S. economic growth since the middle of 2009. There’s really no question that growing exports is central to America’s future prosperity. But there is a question about how the U.S. can achieve this goal without the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

Last month Congress delayed the long-term reauthorization of the Bank, a worrying development for companies who manufacture products in America and sell them around the world.  In 2011, the Bank offered $32.7 billion in financing. That financing, in turn, spurred $40.6 billion in U.S. exports and supported nearly 300,000 export-related jobs.

More than 3,600 companies were able to export products because of that financing. With the Export-Import Bank in place, the U.S. is actually on pace to meet President Obama’s ambitious goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. Without it, America will almost certainly come up short.

There is extraordinary power in the collaboration between innovative, export-savvy companies on one side and the Export-Import Bank on the other, making it imperative that the Export-Import Bank is reauthorized and its lending cap raised for a considerable period of time. This is especially important right now, when statistics show that manufacturing in America is on the march. According to the Labor Department, last year the U.S. added 136,000 jobs in manufacturing, the first time we’ve seen those numbers go up since 1997.

A perfect example of this collaboration can be found in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, Siemens recently opened a plant that manufactures the most advanced, most energy efficient gas turbine and is committed to making Charlotte a major export hub, selling “Made in America” turbines around the world.

The first turbine off the line went straight to Mexico.  The next ten, thanks to a $638 million direct loan from the Export-Import bank, are headed to Saudi Arabia. This is a billion dollar deal and it never would have happened if the Export-Import Bank hadn’t provided this financing for the customer.  These orders are supporting the work of 825 employees currently at this plant and 400 new employees.

The truth is, for all the talk about the decline of American manufacturing, of the widening of its trade deficit, the U.S. now has a unique opportunity to turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The Export-Import Bank has the ability to help sell America’s higher technology products around the world while creating jobs for workers at home. And we know the rest of the world is eager to do business with the United States.

What’s sometimes missed in stories about globalization is the exceptionally high regard the rest of the world has for American products. As a global company, Siemens sees power of the “Made in America” brand and the extent to which America is seen as a trusted business partner. And when you consider that only one percent of American companies export today, most just to a single market, it’s easy to see how much potential is still left untapped, how essential the Export-Import Bank can really be.

America has an incredible opportunity to transform itself into the center of global manufacturing once again, a real chance to narrow its trade deficit substantially, and the ability to spur job creation. The U.S. can achieve these goals and more, but an essential first step is a long-term authorization of the Export-Import Bank.

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Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor under Secretary Elaine L. Chao, responds to the January 2012 jobs numbers report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Young Americans, including young veterans who have honorably served their nation, are being told by President Obama and his administration to settle for a new economic status quo where the lack of jobs, high unemployment, a record high number of people dropping out of the labor force, and limited economic opportunity are considered normal.

Instead of being allowed to pursue their dreams and careers through meaningful work, regular paychecks, and new skills gained on the job, the ongoing poor economy is forcing young adults to delay their plans, delay their lives, and scramble to simply make ends meet.

“Despite thirty-six consecutive monthly jobs reports with unemployment over eight percent and a new CBO forecast of higher unemployment in the year to come, the message from the Obama administration to young Americans is to expect more of the same — higher taxes, more regulations, and more federal interference targeted at private sector job creators.

Young adults pay dearly for this administration’s disregard and diminishment of private employers. Their level of aloofness and lack of empathy for the daily concerns of young Americans is as astounding as it is unacceptable.”

January’s 8.3 percent overall jobless rate fails to reflect the significant and ongoing challenges faced by young Americans in the continually poor economy. Joblessness among Millennials ages 18-29 is already at historic levels since the end of World War II, and hidden behind January’s numbers is the fact that many Americans have either accepted short-term, seasonal work or simply given up looking for work and are, therefore, not factored into the unemployment rate.

Even worse, the long-term U.S. job growth picture remains grim based on an official report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO’s January 31, 2012 report concluded “a large portion of the economic and human costs of the recession and slow recovery remains ahead.”

CBO is also forecasting that the U.S. unemployment rate could reach 8.9 percent by the end of 2012, and could potentially increase to 9.2 percent in the year 2013. Finally, the report forecasts that the unemployment rate could remain as high as seven percent through the end of 2015, and that economic activity may remain “below the economy’s potential until 2018.”

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Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement in response to  President Obama’s State of the Union address:

At a time when 1.3 million construction workers are still jobless, we are particularly encouraged by the President’s ideas to create jobs in one of the economy’s hardest hit sectors.

As the men and women of LIUNA have long argued, investing in America’s crumbling transportation systems will put millions of men and women back to work. We applaud his proposal to invest half of our nation’s “peace dividend” in rebuilding America’s basic, critical infrastructure.

Congress can start by passing a long-term Highway and Transit Bill by March 31 that makes a full investment in rebuilding America’s basics – the highways, bridges and transit systems that are falling apart across the country. The President’s “all-of-the-above” strategy to increase development of American energy – including oil, hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas and investment in renewables – can create and support desperately needed jobs.

Hydraulic fracturing alone will provided needed energy and jobs for an estimated 600,000 men and women. The President accurately noted that our nation does not have to choose between good jobs and protecting our environment and he reinforced that comprehensive climate change legislation is the best, if not only way, to tackle global warming.

The President’s proposal to make it possible for responsible homeowners to refinance their mortgages can ease the pain for millions of working people, help cure our still sick housing market and add fuel to a robust economic recovery.

In short, the President’s speech was a good one, but there must now be action. As the Build America union, the men and women of LIUNA urge Congress stop standing in the way and to act.

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Hawker Beechcraft learned during the initial status conference at the Court of Federal Claims that the U.S. Air Force awarded the Light Air Support contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation and its Brazilian manufacturer, Embraer.

During the hearing, the government revealed that the unannounced award apparently was made on December 22, 2011, shortly after the Government Accountability Office declined to review Hawker Beechcraft’s protest against its exclusion from the LAS competition.  Per federal regulations, federal agencies are generally required to make a public award announcement by 5:00 P.M. ET on the day of the award.

“This is yet another example of the Air Force’s lack of transparency throughout this competition,” said Bill Boisture, Hawker Beechcraft chairman and CEO.  ”With this development, it now seems even clearer that the Air Force intended to award the contract to Embraer from early in this process.”

During the hearing on December 28, Hawker Beechcraft requested that the court grant a temporary restraining order to preclude the Air Force from moving forward in the contract process.  The court agreed to establish an accelerated schedule for briefings on the temporary restraining order and the legal merits of the case.  A ruling on Hawker Beechcraft’s request for a temporary restraining order is expected as early as January 11.

The company still has no concrete reasons for the exclusion of the Beechcraft AT-6, having been denied explanation by the U.S. Air Force on two occasions.  The LAS contract, on track to benefit a non-U.S. company, is valued at nearly $1 billion of U.S. taxpayer money.

The AT-6 is a world-class, light attack aircraft that has been evaluated and proven capable through a multi-year, Congressionally-funded program led by the Air National Guard. Hawker Beechcraft and its industrial partners worked closely with the Air Force for two years to develop parameters for the LAS competition and invested more than $100 million preparing to meet the Air Force’s specific requirements for a light attack aircraft.  The benefits of the AT-6 include the following:

• The AT-6 is designed and manufactured in the U.S. to be used by the U.S and its allies.
• Keeping this contract in the U.S. will help preserve 1,400 domestic jobs at 181 companies in 39 states.
• The AT-6 draws its heritage from the airframe of the number one training aircraft in the world, the Beechcraft T-6. The company has built more than 725 T-6 aircraft, which are used to train every fixed-wing military pilot in the United States and are successfully operated by six allied air forces around the world. The graduation to the AT-6 light attack airplane would be a natural progression.
• The AT-6 is the sum of the Air Force’s proven T-6, A-10C mission system and MC-12W sensor suite.
• The weapons and avionics systems included on the AT-6 are familiar to NATO allies and have been proven effective on many continents and in other NATO aircraft.

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