It Might Be “Halftime In America,” but the Jobless Still Face A Challenging Second Half

Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl ad was a hot topic around the water cooler last week. As Eastwood growls through the two-minute spot, he speaks of America fighting back against a prolonged employment crisis. And he highlights Detroit’s comeback thanks to President Obama’s support of the American auto industry.

As the ad concludes, Eastwood drops an instantly viral tagline: “It’s halftime, America.”

Eastwood has a point: America has made some progress toward ending this Great Recession. But there’s still an enormous amount of work left to be done. There are still 27.5 million underemployed and unemployed Americans, stuck desperately searching for work.

Now is not the time to be over-confident or apathetic. We need a political commitment to carry through to second half and solve this unemployment crisis once and for all.

A recent poll shows President Obama’s approval rating has climbed above 50 percent for the first time since U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden last May. The bump in approval coincides with the Labor Department’s monthly unemployment report finding that the economy added 243,000 jobs in January, dropping the official unemployment rate to 8.3 percent.

The statistics touted by politicians and pundits don’t tell the full story.

The official unemployment rate was aided by 1.2 million Americans who dropped out of the workforce. They no longer count as “seeking a job.” The unemployment rate also fails to account for the 8 million underemployed Americans, who can’t find enough hours to work.

When all dropouts and underemployed people are accounted for, the unemployment rate is actually at a staggering 17 percent!

For the unemployed, the rise in President Obama’s approval rating is actually cause for concern. They are at risk of having their voices drowned out by those who are willing to accept progress up to this point as sufficient — as if the push to fix America’s unemployment crisis is complete.

Now is not the time for complacency. President Obama must remain focused on creating jobs for the “second half” while still playing catch-up to the jobs he failed to create in the first half.

But, as his approval rating rises thanks to marginal job market gains, President Obama could be tempted to de-prioritize job creation.

This can’t happen. And a great way to ensure continued job growth would be to create a modern-day Works Progress Administration (WPA). The government could create new jobs while rebuilding vital American infrastructure.

Just as President Obama’s support of the American auto industry helped to breathe new life into a struggling Detroit, President Obama could inject new life into large cities and small towns alike with a 21st-Century WPA.

Prior to the first WPA coming into effect in 1935, America’s unemployment rate was at 25 percent. Over the program’s eight-year run, it employed 8.5 million Americans.

The World Economic Foundation’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012 ranks America’s infrastructure as the 16th-best in the world. That’s just ahead of Belgium — a clear indicator that our roads, airports, and communications infrastructure need a major upgrade.

A new WPA would help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure while putting millions of Americans back to work. The nation’s 27.5 million unemployed Americans need to make their voices heard on this issue and get policymakers to prioritize them.

UCubed has partnered with Rock The Vote to give America’s jobless a chance to change the direction of this country. Click here to participate!