THE AMERICAN JOBS CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT POLICY: A CALL

The author proposes a new Jobs Compact to close the nation’s jobs deficit, to create sufficient high-quality jobs to raise wages and end thirty years of wage stagnation, and to update and strengthen labor and employment policies. A set of market and institutional failures are identified as root causes of these problems, and local innova-tions and policy proposals are suggested for overcoming them. Achieving these objectives will require a stronger voice in national policymaking as well as proactive efforts to mobilize and coordinate the constituencies that share an interest in and responsibility for employment policy and practice. The author calls on the president and the secretary of labor to lead these efforts by mobilizing and engaging business, labor, women, ethnic, community, and educa-tion leaders at regional and national levels. America continues to suffer from the worst jobs crisis since the Great De-pression. The crisis has both a quantity and a quality dimension. With respect to quantity, three and a half years after the end of the recession th