Jobs News

My First Job: Richard Kind

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

In the video below, actor Richard Kind talks about his first summer job, working to set up the jewelery and china departments at a new store. Richard had to make sure that every piece in a set of china came into the store intact, and destroy any sets that weren't perfect. In hindsight, the skills he employed on that job don't translate in his current career, but he did learn that you can have fun in the most unexpected ways at work.

Watch Richard Kind talk about his first job here:

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+. 

You heard about Richard's first job. Now go find yours.

Learn more

• Watch Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, talk about her first job
• Watch Cecilia Munoz, Director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, talk about her first job.
• Watch Jimmy Fallon talk about his first job.
• See the list of participating employers and organizations
• Check out a range of web and mobile apps designed to connect young people to jobs.

My First Job: Chris Lu

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

As the Cabinet Secretary in the White House, Chris Lu is President Obama’s primary liaison to the Cabinet departments and agencies, helping to coordinate policy and communications strategy. In the video below he talks about his first summer job, as an office assistant at a federal research lab in Maryland, where his responsibilites included mopping up the mess after safety showers were tested. Chris says he still has those mop skills, and he also retains the appreciation he learned for the important work federal employees do every day.

Watch Secretary Chris Lu talk about his first job here:

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+. 

You heard about Chris's first job. Now go find yours.

Learn more

• Watch Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, talk about her first job
• Watch Cecilia Munoz, Director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, talk about her first job.
• Watch Jimmy Fallon talk about his first job.
• See the list of participating employers and organizations
• Check out a range of web and mobile apps designed to connect young people to jobs.

Congress Says No to Equal Pay

Equal pay for women is about more than just fairness. Women are breadwinners in more than 50 percent of American households, and if they're making less than men do for the same work, families have to get with less money for childcare and tuition and rent, and small businesses have fewer customers. Everybody suffers. 

President Obama supports passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a comprehensive and commonsense bill that updates and strengthens the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. Following Congress's failure to act on this bill today, the President released the following statement:

This afternoon, Senate Republicans refused to allow an up-or-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense piece of legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and give women more tools to fight pay discrimination. It is incredibly disappointing that in this make-or-break moment for the middle class, Senate Republicans put partisan politics ahead of American women and their families. Despite the progress that has been made over the years, women continue to earn substantially less than men for performing the same work. My Administration will continue to fight for a woman’s right for equal pay for equal work, as we rebuild our economy so that hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and every American gets a fair shot to succeed.

 

Learn more about wage inequality and its effects on American families here

The Employment Situation in May

Problems in the job market were long in the making and will not be solved overnight. The economy lost jobs for 25 straight months beginning in February 2008, and over 8 million jobs were lost as a result of the Great Recession.  We are still fighting back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 

Today we learned that the economy has added private sector jobs for 27 straight months, for a total of 4.3 million payroll jobs over that period. The economy is growing but it is not growing fast enough. BLS’s establishment survey shows that private businesses added 82,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 69,000. The unemployment rate ticked up from 8.1 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May, according to BLS’s household survey. However, the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage point to 63.8 percent, and employment rose by 422,000 according to the household survey. 

There is much more work that remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and deep recession that began at the end of 2007. Just like last year at this time, our economy is facing serious headwinds, including the crisis in Europe and a spike in gas prices that hit American families’ finances over the past months.  It is critical that we continue the President’s economic policies that are helping us dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession. 

In the American Jobs Act and in the State of the Union Address, the President put forward a number of proposals to create jobs and strengthen the economy, including proposals that would put teachers back in the classroom and cops on the beat, and put our nation’s construction workers back on the job rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.  The President has also proposed a “To-Do List” of actions that Congress should take to create jobs and help restore middle-class security.  This includes eliminating tax incentives to ship jobs overseas, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can refinance, giving small businesses that increase employment or wages a 10 percent income tax credit, investing in affordable clean energy, and helping returning veterans find work.  The President is in Minneapolis today to announce a new executive action that will establish private sector partnerships to help military service members acquire recognized occupational credentials—as welders, as machinists, and ultimately in a broader range of occupations. These partnerships will help service members find private sector jobs once they leave the military, and they will help firms in manufacturing and other industries that need workers to fill their vacant positions. 

Manufacturing employment continues to expand and manufacturers added 12,000 jobs in May. After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the recession, the economy has added 495,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010--the strongest growth for any 28-month period since April 1995.  To continue the revival in manufacturing jobs and output, the President has proposed tax incentives for manufacturers, enhanced training for the workforce, and measures to create manufacturing hubs and encourage the growing trend of insourcing. 

Other sectors with net job increases included education and health services (+46,000), transportation and warehousing (+35,600), wholesale trade (+15,900), and temporary help services (+9,200). Construction lost 28,000 jobs, accounting services lost 14,000 jobs, government lost 13,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality lost 9,000 jobs.  State and local governments shed 8,000 jobs, mostly in education. 

As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is helpful to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available.

My First Job: Andy Katz

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

Andy Katz, a sports reporter and analyst, got his first job at a sporting goods store, where he once sold a pair of hand weights to then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Katz said Gov. Dukakis used the weights as he walked to the state capitol in Boston.

Watch Andy Katz talk about his first job here:

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+.

You heard about Andy Katz’s first job. Now go find yours.

My First Job: Gene Sperling

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

Today Gene Sperling is the Director of the National Economic Council. In the video below, he talks about his first job as a ball boy. He swept the court and cleaned up after the players, which he thought was "way cool." More importantly, he learned what makes you stand out as a great employee.  

Watch Gene Sperling talk about his first job:

Weekly Address: Congress Must Act on "To-Do List"

President Obama is calling on Democrats and Republicans to come together and act on his Congressional “to-do list,” which will create jobs and help restore middle class security. In this make-or-break moment for the middle class, these five initiatives have bipartisan support and will help create an economy that is built to last.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

Learn More:

See President Obama's "To Do" List for Congress

By the Numbers: 26

Manufacturing accounts for 26 percent of our national economic growth since 2009. Over the same period, our workers and factories have become more productive, leading companies to open their businesses here in the United States instead of overseas. This, in turn, creates good, middle-class jobs jobs and generates broader economic benefits for the communities where these companies choose to set up shop, and our economy as a whole. In fact, since February of 2010, the industry has added 485,000 jobs.

But more can be done to continue this trend. On Tuesday, President Obama traveled to Albany to introduce his To-Do List for Congress, a list of 5 initiatives that will create jobs and help the middle class—if Congress takes action before leaving for summer recess. The first item on that list: pass legislation that gives companies a new 20 percent tax credit for the cost of moving their operations back to the U.S. and pay for it by eliminating tax incentives that allow companies to deduct the costs of moving their business abroad.

Want to know what else is on the To-Do List? Check it out here

Ed. note: This post was updated on May 17.

President Obama's "To-Do List" for Congress

President Obama has put together a "to do" list for Congress that, if acted upon quickly, will create jobs and help restore middle class security. These initiatives all have bipartisan support, and the President believes that they will help create an economy built to last that supports secure American jobs and makes things the rest of the world buys - not one built on outsourcing, loopholes, or risky financial deals. 

Here are the items on Congress’s To-Do List:

1. Reward American Jobs, Eliminate Tax Incentives To Ship Jobs Overseas: Attract and keep good jobs in the United State sby passing legislation that gives companies a new 20 percent tax credit for the cost of moving their operations back to the U.S. Congress should pay for this credit by eliminating tax incentives that allow companies to deduct the costs of moving their business abroad.