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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
95th Session of the International Labor Conference
Palais des Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
Thursday, June 8, 2006
First, on behalf of the United States government, let me congratulate Deputy Minister Sajda of the Czech Republic on his election as the President of the Conference.
And I would like to commend the Director-General for the comprehensive nature of the report that frames our discussion today, "Changing Patterns in the World of Work."
The report notes that despite the different challenges facing many nations today, there is one basic challenge that all nations share. That is the importance of creating new jobs.
It is the experience of the United States that job creation cannot be separated from economic growth. The United States believes that the role of the government is to create the conditions for economic growth, so that the private sector can create new jobs. That means reducing the excessive taxation, over regulation and abusive litigation that hamper growth. Other conditions that help create and sustain the climate for job growth include transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
By following these strategies, the U.S. economy has experienced strong and steady job growth despite unprecedented challenges over the past 5 years. Our nation has seen 33 months of uninterrupted growth, creating more than 5.3 million new jobs since August 2003. The national unemployment rate remains low at 4.6 percent — well below the 5.7 percent average unemployment rate of the decade of the 1990s.
The majority of new jobs being created in the United States are high value, requiring higher skills and more education. By definition, they pay above average wages.
This trend is creating a skills gap in our country. That is the mismatch between the skills of our workforce and the skills required for the new jobs being created. Our challenge as a nation is to help workers continually update their skills and ensure they have access to job training and education.
The government provides many opportunities to help workers access education and training. The President recently announced the American Competitiveness Initiative. Part of this proposal is a plan to empower eligible workers with up to $3000 annually in career advancement (or self-managed) accounts to purchase the job training that suits them best.
Other programs help workers get the training needed to access growing opportunities in their specific communities. Two of these are the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative and the Community Based Job Training Program. Yet there is the realization in our country that the government cannot do it all. Private sector spending on job training far outweighs that of the government. Our goal is to link employers, education providers and government programs together to train workers for jobs that are in demand.
In the United States, the workforce is very dynamic and flexible. About one-third of our nation's workforce of approximately 150 million people leave their jobs every year and find news ones, largely because of better opportunities. The average American worker will have had 10 jobs by the time he or she is 38 years old. So change is the norm in our society.
Without job creation, there can be no future for dislocated workers, or young people. Job creation is also important to solving the demographic challenges faced by societies with aging populations. The creation of many different kinds of opportunities, including part-time work, is essential to ensuring that older workers have the opportunity to continue to contribute.
Let me conclude by noting that migration alone can never solve the challenge of creating employment for the millions of new workers emerging in the world. Each country is responsible for fostering the conditions that favor growth within its own borders. And my government believes that policies that encourage job creation, transparency, accountability and the rule of law are the best ways to ensure that the gains of the worldwide economy will be shared by all.
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