At a time when 12.7 million unemployed Americans are in need of jobs, the U.S. government is spending less on job training than it did during better economic times.

 

Federal funding for the “primary training program for dislocated workers,” according to The New York Times, is down 18% from six years ago, before the financial crisis and ensuring recession. Support for job search services, such as resumé building and interview coaching, is also down, by 13% since 2006.

 

Seattle’s seven job-training centers provided help for less than 5% of the 120,000 unemployed who sought assistance last year.

 

Another example can be found in Dallas, where centers have federal support for only 43 people in training programs. In the last 10 weeks alone, the city’s unemployment ranks increased by 23,500.

 

President Barack Obama has requested an additional $280 million a year for job training programs for the next ten years, but even this seems a mere drop in the bucket considering that comes out to $220 for each job-seeker. According to the Department of Labor, the nation’s employers added 120,000 jobs in March.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Federal Funds to Train the Jobless Are Drying Up (by Motoko Rich, New York Times)