March 16 (Bloomberg) — U.S. employers won’t hire enough workers this year to lower the jobless rate much below the level of 9.7 percent reached in February, three Obama administration economic officials said today. |
The proportion of Americans who can’t find work is likely to “remain elevated for an extended period,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, White House budget director Peter Orszag and Christina Romer, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a joint statement. The officials said unemployment may even rise “slightly” over the next few months as discouraged workers start job-hunting again. Read more at www.bloomberg.com |
As ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, I know that entrepreneurs need certainty in this economy. Business owners are hesitant to hire workers, borrow money or expand operations because they are unsure whether a stable economic recovery is underway. This uncertainty stems directly from damaging Washington policies that threaten small-business investments and growth.
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Small businesses deserve a commitment to economic growth and job creation. Our economy depends on it, and our nation’s innovators cannot wait any longer. As we move forward in the 111th Congress, the actions of the majority and the administration will speak louder than words. Let’s enact real solutions that will reduce spending, help our small businesses grow and put people back to work.
Graves is the ranking Republican on the House Small Business Committee.
Read more at thehill.com |
“I’m not going to just hire somebody because I have the opportunity for a tax credit,” said Young, whose great- grandfather started the company in 1908. “I need to make sure the business is sound.” |
“A business is not going to bring on a new employee, with the very significant expenses that go along with that, for a tax credit of several thousand dollars,” said Mike Elmendorf, New York state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade and lobbying group for small companies. |
“Most of what we’re hearing out of Washington right now is more about politics than it is about creating jobs,” said business owner Doug Newman, whose Newman Concrete Services Inc. in Richmond, Maine, is down to about 25 employees from a peak of 125 people 18 months ago. |
“The best thing Washington could do is say, ‘Let’s take a break from all this expansion of government and let the economy recover,’” Newman said. Read more at www.businessweek.com |
| Small businesses also believe they will play a key role in the U.S. economic recovery, but in spite of, rather than assisted by, support from the federal government. Nine out of 10 respondents agreed that current stimulus has not provided any benefits. Still, small business owners remain hopeful that Washington will take action to help them, particularly in the area of financing. Fifty-eight percent agreed that higher Small Business Administration (SBA) loan limits would benefit small businesses. Read more at www.marketwatch.com |
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