Need a Jobs Act?

Black unemployment is rising..  Black unemployment is rising despite the fact that the overall U.S. economy appearing to be on the rise.  It's a very disappointing set of circumstances and I must admit hard to fathom.


If you, like I am Shocked by news that the unemployment rate among black Americans rose nearly a full percentage point between May and June 2012, Then join the club. Economists have been trying to determine why also.

 One reason for the increase could be a rise in the percentage of African Americans looking for a job, rather than an uptick of black people losing jobs, according to KETK TV in Texas. Keep in mind that the unemployment rate only accounts for people who are actively seeking work.

The unemployment rate for blacks rose to 14.4% from 13.6% in May, the Labor Department reported Friday. That's a sharp contrast to the white unemployment rate, which stayed put at 7.4%, and the Hispanic rate, which held at 11%.

From what I've been reading and hearing.. This trend is not a new one,  The black unemployment rate has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972. But Algernon Austin, director of the the Race, Ethnicity and the Economy program at the Economic Policy Institute, attributes the rise in the rate to more black Americans entering the workforce, not to job losses or more people out of work.

The percentage of eligible African-Americans holding or seeking a job rose in June to 62% from 61.3% in May. It was the second straight month that the percentage has increased. The employment-population ratio, which measures the proportion of the population that's employed, also rose slightly in June.

 "More people wanting work is what really pushed up the unemployment rate for blacks. That's a good thing," according to Algernon Austin.. "You want people to participate in the labor force." But as the number of people looking for jobs has risen, they face a lukewarm job market that is struggling to create growth.


So....I am looking squarely at Congress...Because I know there are some Blacks who want to blame the President for this....I want to say to Congress...There is President Obama's American Jobs Act floating around that they still have not acted on...Why is that? Why would anybody be against putting all Americans back to work?? Ask yourself that?

II-

Mitt Romney and the Republicans are  already accusing President Obama of having no plan for economic growth: (Where is their plan?) Here is what Mr. Romney had to say on the subject recently-

"The president's policies have not gotten America working again. And the president is going to have to stand up and take responsibility for it. I know he's been planning on going across the country and celebrating what he calls 'forward.' Well, forward doesn't look a lot like forward to the millions and millions of families that are struggling today in this great country. It doesn't have to be this way. The President doesn't have a plan, hasn't proposed any new ideas to get the economy going—just the same old ideas of the past that have failed." 

Now again I ask....Where is the Republican or alternative plan?  


(crickets!)

It seems like the political world has all but forgotten the American Jobs Act, but it remains on the table as President Obama's plan for jump starting this stagnant economy. If passed in full, the Jobs Act would cut payroll taxes for businesses, double the size of the payroll tax cut for individuals, give aid to states to prevent public sector layoffs, and increase infrastructure spending. All together, the Jobs Act would create 1.9 million jobs over the next year.

Why is no one talking about this? Why is the Republican/Tea Party section of our congress blocking the passage of this and lying about it?  I write this specifically for the Black intelligentsia that attack the President and say that he doesn't have a "Black" agenda...While ignoring the Jobs act and his plans for relief for student loan payments...Things that will effect Black college grads entering the workforce as well as every other nationality...I write this to beat them to the punch....Because I know that as much as they criticize the President..None of them ever come up with a solution or alternative plan..  I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they're on the Republican party payroll one day...Since they mimic each other somewhat.

I'm still interested in any alternative plan.....

(crickets)

Uh Huh...just what I thought!