When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

We study how the employment effects of enterprise zones vary with their location, implementation, and administration, based on evidence from California. We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods, coupled with a survey of enterprise zone administrators. Overall, the evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase…

Examines two government voluntary job creation programs: the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act in the 1970s, that have created conflicts with the logic of capitalist production for profit. Suggests principles and policies for a progressive government work program. (JOW)

The Australian labor market in 1992 was characterized by (1) high unemployment; (2) variability across states; (3) long-term unemployment; (4) government focus on infrastructure projects; (5) emphasis on training; and (6) enterprise bargaining in industrial relations. (SK)

The Guaranteed Job Opportunity Act would make major changes in federal policy on the unemployed by guaranteeing a public sector job to hard core unemployed persons until they find a job in the private sector. Part two of the testimony for this bill was given to a joint session of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Productivity and the…

This third special report of the National Commission for Manpower Policy provides information regarding the ways that European nations were dealing with complex manpower problems similar to the ones faced by the United States during the recession of 1974-1975. Following a brief introductory section, section 2 reviews the methods used by the…

The Guaranteed Job Opportunity Act would make major changes in federal policy on the unemployed. The bill would allow hard core unemployed persons to work on government projects until they find a job in the private sector. The participants would work four days per week for minimum wages or 10% more than welfare or 10% more than unemployment…

The feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job-creation was assessed. Focus was on how many job-creating activities could be undertaken as well as the job-creation potential and costs of these activities. Data was collected through field visits made to Washington-based federal government and national organizations and to twenty-four…

A decade's explosive growth in the scope, funding and complexity of national social policy has created serious problems in the United States. This first overview report notes that the Office of Economic Opportunity (now known as the Community Services Administration) has ceased to provide a focal point for national social policy. It was this state…

The report consists of three parts: "The Design of a Federal Employment Program to Counter Recession"; "The Design of a Federal Employment Program in a Strategy to Raise Low Earnings"; and "The Design of a Guaranteed Job Opportunity as a Part of Welfare Reform". In Part 1, an Anti-Recession Program (ARP) is proposed. ARP is an automatically…

A bill to provide opportunities for employment to unemployed and underemployed persons, to assist States and local communities in providing needed public services, and for other purposes is presented. The Act is cited as the Full Employment Act of 1972, under the authority of the Secretary of Labor, and includes such states as the District of…

This second of a three-volume report of a study done to assess the feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job creation contains chapter 2 of the report on the methods and findings with respect to job-creating activities, their job-creation potential, and related characteristics. (Volume 1, comprised of the report's first chapter,…

One of a series on Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program models, this monograph provides professionals employed in CETA programs with information on how job recruiting and searches take place to help them improve their job placement and development skills. The content is in four sections. The first section briefly covers the…

Written under a contract with the National Commission for Manpower Policy, this book contains eight chapters (each by a separate author) intended to aid in charting a national employment strategy and assessing the goal of full employment. Three main themes that pervade the book are (1) the responsibility of the federal government to create jobs,…

This last of a three-volume report of a study done to assess the feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job creation covers the findings regarding the priorities among projects, indirect employment effects, skill imbalances, and administrative issues; and summarizes the overall findings, conclusions, and recommendations. (Volume 1,…