By Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The Obama administration has taken a number of
steps to trigger jobs growth and will continue to do so as it addresses
high teenage unemployment and severe storms which have whipsawed states
in the South, U.S Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said Friday.

Solis, speaking on a conference call with reporters, said the 25%
unemployment rate among teenagers is “concerning”, and the
administration has started a summer jobs initiative to try and bring it
down.

Solis said the program, which aims to create 100,000 summer jobs
has already received commitments from private companies to hire 43,000
teenagers.

Solis also said recent storms which have devastated the South will
have a significant impact on the U.S employment picture and has signed a
$10 million dollar cleanup initiative to help mitigate losses. Solis
said the cleanup initiative will create 300 jobs.

Despite high unemployment amongst teenagers and the obvious
challenges facing disaster areas in the South, Solis said the April
employment report which was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday was encouraging.

“We have crossed an important threshold,” Solis said while noting
the economy has added 760,000 private sector jobs over the last three
months.

Austan Goolsbee, chair of the White House Council of Economic
Advisers echoed Solis’s sentiments Friday.

“We’ve added significant number of jobs,” Goolsbee said on CNBC
Friday in an interview following the release of the employment report.

“I predict the official forecast that the unemployment rate drop
rather steadily, and we have added more jobs than we even predicted in
the last budget,” Goolsbee said.

The Obama administration has taken a number of measures to
encourage private sector job growth, including enacting a payroll tax
credit earlier in the year, but now faces the difficult task of reigning
in spending while encouraging economic growth, he said.

“Going forward we also need to make sure our government is living
within its means while still investing in its future,” Solis said,
adding, “reducing the size of the deficit is a priority.”

The BLS’s Employment Situation report Friday said almost all
industry categories improved except for temporary help services,
government and construction. The government category is expected to
continue to be a drag on the economy as both state and federal
governments face budget problems.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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