Government policies are not solving unemployment

At the Celgard plant in Charlotte Friday, President Obama stated the economy is turning around because of 162,000 jobs added in March, the largest increase in 2 years. This is misleading because it includes 48,000 temporary census workers. Overall, the unemployment rate remains at 9.7%. However, if you consider underemployed and discouraged workers, the number is closer to 17%. The state's unemployment rate is at 11.2%. Of curious note is the fact that Celgard announced on March 2 plans to expand their South Korea facility at a cost of $30 million. The curiosity lies in that the federal government is providing $49 million to hire 300 employees in the Charlotte region.

While I try to avoid politics in this space, this should cause concern among job seekers and taxpayers. The government appears to be picking winners and losers in the job market. If you are a job seeker, this has a direct impact on your and your ability to find employment that fits your skills, abilities, as well as your values, dreams, and passions. The government should not be deciding what industries should succeed, but rather should let the market decide what industries succeed.

In spite of this, one sector that seem to be expanding are energy sector jobs. Nuclear, "green", and fossil fuel jobs seem positioned for more growth to keep up with energy demands. Health care jobs deserve some observation to see how they will be impacted by the federal government's further expansion into this area. Locally, Verizon Wireless has announced the addition of 100 customer service jobs, and the financial services industry appears to be hiring again as well. This may bode well for many of those individuals with experience in this sector.

If the government wants to consider another stimulus to help with jobs recovery, they might want to consider lowering tax rates for businesses to free up money that will allow companies and particularly small businesses the ability to expand. In the meantime, if you are looking for work, don't look to the news headlines to determine where to reply. Map your own course.