Even when the American economy looked to be on the road to better health, the unpleasant fact was that the recovery was doing little to put people back to work. Some companies were making more money, but they were benefiting from greater workforce productivity. The notion of investing in job growth remains a non-starter in many boardrooms.
The latest economic news, unfortunately, suggests that once again, the situation could get worse before it gets better. For the unemployed, the picture has to be one of mounting desperation.
So it's especially frustrating to find out that in three-quarters of North Carolina's counties, it was too much trouble to lift a proverbial finger to help at least a few dozen people start drawing paychecks. There would have been a cost to county governments, heaven forbid.
The N&O's John Murawski had the story on Sunday's front page. A federal economic stimulus program begun last year has channeled money into pay subsidies allowing small-business and agency employers temporarily to hire people who otherwise would have a minimal chance of getting a job.
But in North Carolina, the program has drawn participation from only 25 of the 100 counties and has put a grand total of about 1,300 people to work. That's better than nothing, and the program's beneficiaries are supposed to come from the ranks of those for whom unemployment has been nearly a given - single parents with dependent children, folks laid off and out of luck, people with criminal records. Yet what if half the counties had signed up? Or all?
Saved by a paycheck
Jobs paying $10 or $12 an hour can make a huge difference - perhaps the ability to pay the rent, keep a car running, afford school supplies and kids' shoes that fit. And one of these days, if we're all lucky, it will be the ability of working people to spend some of their earnings that will bring this creaky economy back to a place where the American dream of prosperity seems a little more within reach.
Some North Carolina counties stepped up to take advantage of the federal program. Mecklenburg, the heaviest participant by far, projected that it would place 500 workers, and Edgecombe was aiming at 100. One woman featured in Murawski's account, a 26-year-old mother of two preschoolers, is making $10 an hour assembling gift baskets and the like at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. It's good experience that she hopes will lead to a permanent slot.
But in counties that included Wake, Durham, Franklin and Chatham, the thinking seems to have focused on all the fuss, botheration and expense that going along with the federal program would entail.
Those pesky hoops
Counties do have to match 20 percent of the federal funds, and they have to jump through several hoops involving the recruitment of employers and employees. Wake's manager, David Cooke, said it wasn't his call not to sign up, but he explained the reluctance: "In most cases it's false economics. Here's some more work for you [the county] to do if you accept 'free' money. We're all dealing with declining revenues or flat revenues." He said the county has passed on some stimulus programs because of associated expenses.
All very rational. But didn't they face the same considerations in Mecklenburg? And what about in other states that outstripped North Carolina's participation level? The top five states - Illinois, California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania - among them were expected to create more than 82,000 jobs.
Other stimulus programs will put an estimated 105,000 North Carolinians to work by next year, many in heavy construction. But targeting job assistance toward those at the bottom of the employment barrel means modest strengthening of a weak link in the social chain. If the recession comes back for an unwanted encore, every paying job will become even more precious.
