Your Update from the White House Business Team Friends, Last week was another busy week here at the White House. President Obama met with business leaders from various industries to discuss the need for commonsense immigration reform. He traveled to the Big Easy to tour the Port of New Orleans, one of America’s busiest terminals, to talk about our economic recovery and to highlight the strength of our exports and what they mean for jobs here at home. Also, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough met with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to discuss the President’s priorities for strengthening the economy. American Express OPEN hosted an online forum to discuss the ways small businesses can benefit from the Affordable Care Act. And lastly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly employment report; see five important points from the report below. As always, contact us with any questions or concerns at [email protected]. The White House Business Team Ari, Marisa, and Sam The President Discusses Immigration Reform with Business Leaders On Tuesday, the President convened a meeting of business leaders at the White House to discuss the importance of Commonsense Immigration Reform. The President talked about the importance of securing our borders, streamlining the legal immigration system, holding employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers accountable, and providing a pathway to citizenship for those who have paid a fine, learned English, and responsibly take their place at the back of the line. These leaders shared with the President their desire to see our broken immigration system fixed, both because it is the right thing to do, and because it will be good for the U.S. economy. In addition to the 7.5 million jobs we have created in the U.S. over the past three and a half years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), over the next two decades, the bipartisan bill that has already passed the Senate would grow our economy by an additional $1.4 trillion, and shrink our deficits by nearly $1 trillion. To watch the President’s full remarks, click here. President Obama’s Visit to New Orleans On Friday, President Obama visited the Port of New Orleans to deliver remarks about our economic recovery. The President toured the Port, one of the busiest complexes in the world, and said in his speech, “this port is representative of what ports all around the country do: They help to keep our economy going – moving products, moving people, making sure that businesses are working.” The President highlighted exports as one of the brightest spots in our economy saying, “Thanks in part to new trade deals that we signed with countries like Panama and Colombia and South Korea, we now export more goods and services than ever before. And that means jobs right here in the United States of America.” To watch the whole speech, click here. White House Chief of Staff Addresses U.S. Chamber Board of Directors Last Monday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough addressed the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in Washington, D.C. and discussed the President’s plan to grow the economy and build a strong middle class. He underscored the importance of continuing the progress we are seeing in our economy and providing certainty for businesses across the country, and warned that we should avoid self-inflicted wounds from Washington that only set that progress back. “From the day he first walked through the door of the Oval Office, President Obama’s top priority has been growing our economy, creating good jobs, and rebuilding middle class security… But that work will be harder if we allow the constant cycle of manufactured crises and self-inflicted wounds to keep churning. I doubt it boosted any of your bottom lines, or helped you plan for the future with any certainty. This kind of ideological brinksmanship has done more than anything else to undermine our economy over the past few years.” said McDonough See the entire speech here. American Express Hosts OPEN Small Business Forum On Thursday, American Express hosted an interactive discussion by a panel of consultants, well-versed in healthcare policy, through their OPEN Forum for small businesses. The discussion focused on the resources available to small business owners through the Affordable Care Act and the health insurance exchange marketplace, while suggesting approaches for navigating the new healthcare landscape. Watch the entire presentation here. The Employment Situation in October The upward revisions to job growth in August and September, combined with solid third quarter GDP growth reported last week, suggest that the economy was gaining traction in the months leading up to the government shutdown. There should be no debate that the shutdown and debt limit brinksmanship inflicted unnecessary damage on the economy in October. The employment report shows differing accounts, with the more reliable payroll survey recording strong job growth and the much noisier household survey showing an increase in the unemployment rate and a large drop in employment. But the mission for Congress remains clear: to take steps that increase certainty, speed growth, and boost job creation. FIVE KEY POINTS IN LAST WEEK’S REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 1. America’s resilient businesses have added jobs for 44 consecutive months, with private sector employment increasing by a total of 7.8 million over that period. 2. Federal employees impacted by the shutdown appeared in two places in the household survey: some reported being on temporary layoff and were counted as unemployed, while others reported being absent from work and were counted as employed. Federal Employees on Temporary Layoff 3. One distinctive feature of last week’s report is the unusually large divergence between job growth measured in the establishment survey and the decrease in employed workers in the household survey. Year-Over-Year Change in Employment 4. Construction employment rose by 11,000 in October and is up 185,000 over the past year, but remains 1.9 million jobs below its previous peak, underscoring the importance of continued strengthening in housing markets and investments in infrastructure. Construction Employment 5. Ahead of Veterans Day on Monday, we acknowledge the tremendous debt of gratitude owed to all our nation’s veterans, and the urgency of helping those who recently served find work when they return. Unemployment Rate for Veterans Stay Connected facebook Facebook twitter Twitter youtube YouTube flickr Flickr google+ Google+ This email was sent to usacosar@hotmail Sign Up for Updates from the White House Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy Please do not reply to this email. 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Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 14:40:47 +0000