Creating Jobs

With unemployment rising and expected to hit the double digits soon when lawmakers run for reelection next year, President Obama urged his economic advisers to come up with ideas that would create new jobs when he met with business executives, labor officials and economists. Obama is concerned that the stimulus legislation passed in February won't do enough to turn things around. Obama promised his administration won't rest until they succeed in "generating the jobs that this economy needs." He finds it extremely necessary for his administration to do something about the job losses because of the severity in the number of jobs that were lost earlier this year, he believes it will take "some bold, innovative action" on everyone's part including his own and Congress. Panel members told Obama that the administration should focus on three areas when creating jobs: exports, infrastructure and energy-efficiency technology. While Obama talks daily about green jobs and environmentally friendly technology, one panel member argued that such a transition won't benefit the country unless certain policies make companies become more competitive. General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt told Obama that the industries that made jobs grow in the past 2 decades aren't reliable to do that as the economy recovers. And when it comes to exporting, the US economy is way behind competitors, but he believes that the US could actually create between 3 million and 5 million jobs by simply doubling exports.