FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF)- U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia met with civic leaders, educators and business leaders in Fort Worth talking about workforce development. He said the unemployment rate is at an all time low at 3.5%. Scalia said wages are rising more quickly for workers in the lower section of the economy and said we are in a ‘blue collar boom’. “The Texas economy is surging with 850,000 jobs in the last 3 years,” said Scalia. He said this a result of policy changes, tax cuts and trade deals President Donald Trump has negotiated. Scalia said Trump has added 6 million jobs and has negotiated the U.S. Mexico Canada agreement which will benefit Texans tremendously.
Scalia said with the unemployment rate being so low, the biggest concern employers have is finding workers. “There’s 7 million job openings but only 6 million people looking for them,” he said.
Scalia said at a round table discussion today at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, they worked to find a plan to fix those issues. “We talked apprenticeships and something the President raised in his speech last night is vocational and technical education in all high schools is among the ways that we can increase opportunities and further increase employment,” said Scalia. As an example, Scalia said several local employers are working with the City of Fort Worth to offer more training opportunities for people coming out of college or people who don’t have high school degrees.
