Workforce Developments

How important is the Workforce Investment Act?

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What should Congress do to create jobs? Tell us what you think

To be sure, there will be legislation on jobs. The House squeaked through a $154 billion jobs bill in December, and the Senate is working up their own version. I've heard one pundit say the Republicans won't dare do to it what they've done to health care legislation because they won't want to be seen as being opposed to jobs. Then again, the House version of the bill barely passed.

But will it be enough? Can Congress really pass legislation that will create jobs? 

How do you think they should go about doing it?  Vote here: 

To vote, just click in the box on the answer you like best.

If your answer isn't one of the choices above, then get in the comments and tell me what you think Congress should be doing to create jobs.

And please share this post with your colleagues and friends! I'd love to hear from them.

Will unemployment top 10% nationally in 2009? Take the poll

Last week the Bureau of Labor Stats at the Department of Labor yet again announced historic highs in unemployment rates in the U.S. We're at 8.5% nationally, but that aggregate figure hides much deeper problems for certain groups of people and specific regions. For example,

• Unemployment among African-Americans is 13.3% 
• For Latinos it's 11.4%
• In a several metro areas like Merced, CA, and Elkhart, IN, unemployment rates are closing in in 20%
• Unemployment in El Centro, CA, is 24.5%

Will the national unemployment rate go above 10% in 2009? Take the poll by clicking on your answer in the box below. Check back again to watch how the voting goes. 

If you want to compare the opinion of Workforce Developments readers (above) that of a more general audience, click here to see the same poll on BuzzDash.net.