Historically high unemployment rates remain a grave concern for American households. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for February 2011 was an unacceptably high nine percent. Recognizing the need to create jobs and get Americans back to work, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is uniquely positioned to conduct a broad-based, economy-wide examination of the barriers that stand in the way of job growth and economic recovery. This book will examine the industries that have been hardest hit by the recession, with an emphasis on understanding their challenges and identifying rules cited as costly and problematic.

USA. Research report on limitations to the feasibility of large-scale employment creation programmes in the public sector - identifies 233 job-creation activities in 21 public service areas (incl. Education, environmental protection, energy conservation, etc.), estimates direct and indirect employment opportunity effects, skill requirements, labour intensiveness of each programme, etc., and considers administrative aspects. Bibliography pp. 177 to 179 and statistical tables.

This clear, accessible volume provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing debate over the determining factors of and key influences on employment growth and labor market training, education, and related policies in the United States. Drawing on the work of distinguished labor economists, the chapters tackle questions posed by job and skill demands in the "new high-tech economy" and explore sources of employment growth; productivity growth and its implications for future employment; government mandates, labor costs, and employment; and labor force demographics, income inequality, and returns to human capital. These topics are central concerns for government, which must judge every prospective policy proposal by its effects on employment growth. Washington keeps at least one eye firmly on the jobs picture, and public officials at every level are constantly aware of the issues surrounding American job security. The jobs issue reaches beyond this focus on the unemployment rate and on total employment, including the rate at which employment is seen as growing, the growth of real wages, the security of employment, returns to human capital, uncertainty about the education and training best suited for a world of rapidly changing economic conditions, and the distribution of the gains from growth across economic classes and population groups.