Prepared Remarks for Delivery by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao

Prepared Remarks for Delivery by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
National Association of Hispanic Publications
Friday, April 13, 2007

Thank you, Robert [Bard, President & CEO of LATINA Style]. And thank you, Lupita [Colmenero, NAHP President], for your leadership of the association.

It's a pleasure to be here at this luncheon bringing together executives from many of the Nation's premier Hispanic-themed publications. Congratulations to all on your Silver Anniversary!

This afternoon, I'd like to share some thoughts on our nation's economy, the competitiveness of America's workforce, and the Department's initiatives to help ensure that the doors of opportunity remain wide open to everyone. Then I'd like to leave you with a final thought about how Hispanic publications can play a bigger role in getting a key message out to the community.

Today, America's economy is healthy and resilient. It is one of the fastest growing among the large industrialized nations, with a 3.1 percent GDP growth rate in 2006. Recently, we saw the rippling effects of the growing integration of the worldwide economy and the strong resiliency of United States financial markets and economy.

The unemployment rate ticked back down to its six year low of 4.4 percent. That's more than a full percentage point lower than the average 5.7 percent unemployment rate of the 1990s. You can contrast this with Europe, where two countries, in particular — France and Germany — have unemployment rates near 9 percent. And their long-term unemployment is three times higher than the United States.

7.8 million net new jobs have been created since August 2003. That's more jobs than the European Union and Japan combined have created.

At the same time that employment is growing, hourly earnings for workers are increasing. Earnings grew 4.0 percent over the 12 months ending in March. This translates into an extra $2,362 for a typical family with two wage earners.

America's workforce is also characterized by its flexibility and mobility. That's important because our country is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy.

Those of you involved with print publications have a remarkable ability to convey not just our economy's success, but its growing needs as well. The evolution of our economy is an issue that all of your readers should care about. The economy's transition presents wonderful opportunities for workers to access jobs in growing fields with good-paying jobs.

Today our country is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. Two-thirds of all the new jobs being created require higher skills and more education. By definition, these jobs pay above average wages. But workers will require postsecondary education to access these opportunities. This means that workers with higher skills and educational levels are more in demand. As a result, the wages of higher skilled workers have risen much faster than lower-skilled and less educated workers. What we are seeing is not so much a wage gap in our country, as a skills gap. That's the mismatch between the skills required for the new jobs being created and the skills of some workers.

Over the decade ending 2014, for example, there will be great demand for workers in the skilled trades, with 1.8 million job openings in the building trades alone, as well as nearly 700,000 openings for vehicle repair and maintenance workers. Over this time there will also be great demand for computer specialists, with over 1.3 million openings. Transportation growth will fuel demand for over 1.2 million drivers. Education, training and library occupations will have openings for 3.5 million workers. Companies will fill 2.1 million jobs handling business and financial operations. And, over 4 .9 million new workers will be needed in healthcare and related jobs.

We must get the message out to our young people that good jobs are available, but they must stay in school in order to access these opportunities.

Here are just a few examples of the link between education, employment, and earnings:

* Workers who drop out of high school average $494 per week for full-time work and this group of workers has an unemployment rate of about 7.0 percent.
* Workers with a high school diploma average $726 weekly and this group of workers has a 4.1 percent unemployment rate.
* Workers with an associate's degree average $826 per week, and this group of workers has an unemployment rate of 3.0 percent.
* But workers with a bachelor's degree or higher average $1,344 per week for full-time work, and this group of workers has a 1.8 percent unemployment rate.

So higher education really pays off!

The Department is focusing its resources on training to help ensure that workers can access these growing opportunities. The Department has created many initiatives to help traditionally underserved communities, including Hispanic Americans, access the new opportunities being created in our economy. One of those is the Hispanic Worker Training Initiative. This key program helps Hispanic American workers gain the skills required to access opportunity in rapidly growing sectors of the economy.

In addition to training, another key challenge for our country is immigration reform. There are 11 to 12 million people living in the shadows who are undocumented. On Monday, President Bush visited Arizona and spoke about immigration reform. Just as he did in his State of the Union in January, the President called for a serious, civil and conclusive debate on this issue.

The President spoke about the need for comprehensive legislation that addresses all elements of this complex issue. The first important element is securing our border against terrorism and drug trafficking. Another is providing a realistic and effective temporary worker program for workers and employers. And the legislation the President envisions would also give the undocumented an opportunity to come in out of the shadows. Those who demonstrate good citizenship could enter into the immigration process in a way that is fair to those at the front of the line. Importantly, these men, women and children of good character would benefit from the protection of the law after years of contributing to society.

President Bush reminded us that immigration is a matter of national interest and a matter of deep conviction for him. As Governor of Texas, he used to say that family values did not stop at the Rio Grande. He wants the border open to trade and closed to people who prey on innocent human life. And he wants the U.S. to honor its historic role as a beacon of hope and opportunity.

This Administration has been actively talking with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress in an attempt to reach agreement on the parameters of comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Hopefully, there will be action in Congress this year.

As workers in many sectors of the economy, Hispanic Americans are making gains for their community and our country. The national unemployment rate for Hispanics was 5.1 percent in March and this rate has been declining over time, which is a tremendous tribute to your community. The 2006 average was 5.2 percent, the lowest annual rate in the 33 years it has been measured! Not only has the rate fallen, but the gap between the Hispanic unemployment rate and the national unemployment rate has shrunk to just 0.7 percentage points, down from 1.7 percentage points in 2000.

Another key mission of the Labor Department is to ensure that workers are safe on the job and fully and fairly compensated. Since 2001, OSHA has implemented a balanced approach consisting of aggressive enforcement, cooperative programs, outreach, and compliance assistance. The result is a 7 percent reduction in the occupational fatality rate. And while the goal is zero fatalities, it is encouraging that the fatality rate among Hispanics has fallen by 18 percent during this same period.

This Administration has also made a special effort to target enforcement of our nation's wage and hour laws on industries that employ large numbers of vulnerable workers. As a result, the Department has recovered record back wages for workers in low-wage industries, many of whom are Hispanic. In 2006, the Department recovered nearly $172 million for over 246,000 employees who did not receive the wages they were due. This represents a 30 percent increase in back wage collections since 2001.

The Department also remains active in Gulf Coast recovery efforts, working with media, churches and community-based organizations to help vulnerable workers. One of the organizations in the forefront of these collaborative efforts is LULAC and I want to thank them for their leadership.

Hispanic publications already play an important role in encouraging partnerships that help ensure that the doors of opportunity remain open to everyone. Your support makes these opportunities more widely known and it is greatly appreciated.

And this Administration will continue to be your partner in promoting strategies that emphasize the empowerment of the individual and ensure equal access to opportunity.

So thank you for everything you are doing to build bridges of understanding and to help our country's economy remain strong. By working together, we can continue to ensure that our nation remains the beacon of hope and opportunity for everyone.

Thank you!

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