After President Joe Biden signed the Good Jobs Executive Order, Career Communications Group (CCG) talked about the potential for the order to create good jobs, specifically for Black Americans.
Brendan Danaher, deputy director for labor at the National Economic Council at the White House, discussed Biden's executive order and the implications of the August jobs report for Black Americans.
Danaher shared some positive news, mentioning that recent announcements on the economy and non-farm payroll, which increased by 142,000, resulted in a three-month average of 116,000 employment gains. The employment rate also showed a slight decrease to 4.2% from 4.3% in July 2024.
Danaher also highlighted that the share of Black Americans in the labor force has returned to pre-pandemic levels, with a participation rate of 62.7.
Additionally, earnings for Black workers have increased by 2% after considering inflation.The share of Black Americans with jobs is close to the highest it has been in two decades, according to Danaher.
The Black unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in almost fifty years, reaching 6.1% in 2023, down from 9.3% since the Biden-Harris administration took office.This has resulted in 2.4 million more employed Black Americans.
Employment gains were seen in education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and construction.
President Biden's administration has achieved significant legislative milestones such as the Infrastructure Bill, Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. Companies have announced over $395 billion in investments and 115,000 new jobs in semiconductors and electronics.
President Biden's Good Jobs Executive Order aims to define and apply standards for good jobs and promote equity in the workforce, with a focus on recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, creating new job pathways, and enhancing pre-apprenticeship programs.
The federal agencies involved in grant programs include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation.
The order also promotes the expansion of registered apprenticeship programs and encourages the federal government to serve as a model for skills-based hiring and the promotion of equitable career development pathways.
The Good Jobs Executive Order indicates a healthy labor market, with 142,000 jobs added in August leading to sustained low unemployment rates and real wage gains, Danaher concluded.
According to a White House press release, Danaher is a top labor adviser at the White House. As deputy director of the National Economic Council for labor and economy, he helps ensure that working Americans remain at the center of President Biden’s economic policy.”
Danaher advised the Biden transition on transportation issues as part of one of its “agency review teams”and joined the Department of Transportation in late 2021 as a labor policy adviser.
Before joining the Biden administration, Danaher was a top official for the Transport Workers Union, including serving as its executive director. Earlier in his career, he also worked at the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.