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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 01/21/10

US mayors convene on unemployment; report indicates over 105 metros will still have unemployment above 10% by the end of 2011

More than 230 of the nation’s mayors have convened for the 78th Winter Meeting of The US Conference of Mayors (USCM) in Washington, DC.

Over the three-day session, which runs from January 20, 2010 to January 22, 2010, mayors will meet with President Obama in the White House, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Cabinet members and Congressional representatives to advocate for a national bipartisan agenda that confronts the persistent unemployment, often in double-digit numbers, that still exists in MainStreet America (13.9 in Long Beach, California; 13.4 in Las Vegas, Nevada; 14.9 percent in Providence, Rhode Island and 11.9 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin).

The mayors unveiled their 2010 Metro Agenda for America, which focuses on five key policy areas: job creation through direct funding to cities; a more balanced transportation bill next year that recognizes the necessity to modernize the current transportation system in order to daily move goods and people in metro areas of the nation; energy independence and climate protection through green, sustainable jobs and the mayors” Energy Efficiency Block Grant; improved airport security; and continued funding for proven, working programs like Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants and Summer Youth Jobs.

With unemployment in this country concentrated in cities and metropolitan areas (in Texas, the Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin metro areas account for 65 percent of the unemployed), mayors maintain that supporting these policies will put the American people back to work and help the nation emerge from the recession with a stronger, more thriving economy.

“Despite what national economists are saying, the recession is not over for MainStreet America,” said Mayor Kautz as she presented the Mayors' Metro Agenda. “Everyday, mayors hear from constituents who have lost their jobs and people who are desperately afraid of what lies ahead. We are here to let the residents of our cities know that we hear their calls for help and we are responding.”

The mayors’ urgent call for a metro jobs agenda was underscored by an economic report also released forecasting job recovery and unemployment rates in the nation’s 363 metropolitan areas, where 85% of the people in this country live. The report, prepared by IHS Global Insight for the USCM, indicated that over 105 metros will still have unemployment rates above 10 percent; and 214 metros will have unemployment rates higher than 8 percent by the end of 2011.

According to the report, even as recovery in the labor markets pick up steam in 2011-2013, unemployment rates will not return to pre-recession levels during that period for any metro area. Further, half of all metros (185) will not achieve pre-recession peak employment levels until 2013 and beyond.

“This data is solid proof that we need the Senate to pass a MainStreet jobs package now,” said Kautz “We are in the middle of a 'jobs emergency' that demands decisive and swift action.”

The report also indicates that in 2009 the nation's cities and metro economies generated 90.1 percent of gross domestic product, 90.3 percent of wage and salary income, and 86.2 percent of all jobs. Of this data, Mayor Kautz noted, “These numbers show that without a robust recovery in metropolitan areas, there can be no national recovery. Our cities and our metro economies are centers of our national economy. We ignore them at our own peril.”

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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