Time for Work: Now!

by Diane Wilson

According to January's horrible Canadian unemployment numbers released Friday, we now have a national unemployment rate of 7.2%, up significantly from December's 6.6%. Youth unemployment rang in at at a staggering 12.7%, and men over 25 clocked 6.7%. Unemployment among women fared much better at 5.4%.

The US jobs report for January showed unemployment rising to 598,000, or 7.6%. While some jobs were added in health care and in government, every other sector shed jobs. All of which means, the unemployment rate is well into the double digits for people without a high school diploma. Male unemployment now sits at 7.6% while female unemployment is 6.2%.

This trend is not our friend. I picture women across America feeling guilty now that they have retained their jobs, as well as their housework, and I envision swelling numbers of Nintendo playing disaffected men -- and their fathers -- standing in line to flip burgers. There is only so much Grand Theft Auto and Mario that these guys can play before they start asking how their futures evaporated. Why do women have all the jobs? What happened?

The American heartland tells me that the deadening economy could unleash anger on the streets. Which is why the stimulus package is needed now. This business about tax cuts makes no sense. Young people will not benefit from a tax cut. Unemployed people need job opportunities. We need big government spending, the kind we would normally rail against. We must retain all precarious positions and create new jobs for those disaffected people who believe the rest of the world has stopped caring about them. It is a time to show compassion and interest in your fellow man. If we act, we will create the opportunity for millions of people to start contributing and rebuilding society.

Time to stop with the party politics. Time for everybody to get to work, getting work for workers. Something along the lines of hope and change.