Building Back Better: A Jobs-Centered Infrastructure Plan. Supporting Recovery through Community Service Jobs
Author: Van Horn, Carl
Date: 2021-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Economic Climate,Labor Market,COVID-19,Pandemics,Unemployment,Labor Force Development,Government Role,Dislocated Workers,Job Layoff,Federal Government,Economic Development,Job Training,Employment Programs,Public Service Occupations

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently projected record-breaking growth in 2021, but it is premature to celebrate this rosy macroeconomic picture. In the same document, the CBO also made an alarming prediction: The U.S. labor market will not fully recover until 2024. Recent U.S. jobs reports reveal the depth of the pandemic-created unemployment crisis: 10 million fewer jobs than 10 months ago, unemployment close to double the 3.5 percent level in December 2019, and more than 20 million workers collecting unemployment insurance. The Labor Department's January jobs report announced anemic job growth of less than 50,000, with over 800,000 Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance. High unemployment and labor force dropout rates could persist and spawn a repeat of the &quot;lost decade&quot; and unequal recovery that followed the Great Recession. Workers suffering the greatest economic harm in the current crisis include people of color, low-wage earners in the service sector, women, and individuals with lower education levels. Avoiding another jobless recovery that leaves millions of Americans unemployed must be a top priority for policymakers at every level of government. Americans now overwhelmingly support a strong and sustained government response to the economic crisis. A representative national survey of 800 Americans conducted by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in late 2020 found that they want government intervention to solve the economic crisis. When asked to choose between the government, employers, and workers themselves, fully half of Americans hold the government primarily responsible for helping laid-off workers. This is the largest percentage who think the government has a primary obligation to help the unemployed since the Great Recession. There is also widespread support for direct job creation among Democrats and Republicans alike. More than nine in ten respondents support government-funded infrastructure projects, and more than eight in ten support a federally funded temporary community service jobs program. Other strategies earning widespread approval include sending aid to state and local governments to avert public sector layoffs (86 percent), extending unemployment insurance payments (79 percent), and funding education and training for laid-off workers (74 percent). Eight in ten say it is very important for Democrats and Republicans to work together to strengthen the economy, yet only 6 percent say that it is very likely to happen. The federal government must take action to avoid repeating the tragic experiences of the Great Recession era, when millions of people remained jobless for years, defaulted on loans, lost their homes, and fell into poverty. Below, we offer a set of recommendations for using job-generating infrastructure spending to advance President Biden's plan for a more equitable and inclusive economy.