If Congress fails to reauthorize extended unemployment benefits by the end of November, it will spoil the holidays for 1.2 million people, according to the National Employment Law Project.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/ruining-christmas_n_772000.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-h-ayers/there-is-no-tomorrowameri_b_681366.html?ir=Politics

- There are still 6.6 million workers who have been unemployed for longer than 27 weeks (BLS July 2010).

- During the past month, despite an increase in stimulus projects, the construction industry saw a decrease in employment (BLS July 2010).

- The Congressional Budget Office has recently forecast that in 2011, four years after the current recession began, unemployment is expected to average 9.5%.

- For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.

- According the American Society of Civil Engineers, the average grade for all infrastructures in the United States is a ‘D’.  Over the next five years, it would take approximately $2.2 trillion to repair the nation’s infrastructure deficiencies.

- Moody’s Analytics has concluded that for every dollar invested in infrastructure repair and improvements $1.57 of economic growth.  By that estimate, $150 billion in infrastructure investments would create an almost $240 billion increase in Gross Domestic Product (an almost 2% increase).

- Numerous studies have shown that public infrastructure increases productivity growth, makes private investment more efficient and competitive, and lays the foundation for future growth industries.

- Public infrastructure investment will pay for itself over time as a result of increased productivity and stronger economic growth.

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“A Labor Market Stuck in Neutral”
Heidi Shierholz – Economic Policy Institute
August 6, 2010

“With a deficit of 10.9 million jobs–a 9.5% unemployment rate–the private sector is not yet able to provide a robust recovery, and it is time for the government to do substantially more to create jobs so the backlog of unemployed workers in this country can have a desperately needed chance to get back to work.”

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/labor_market_stuck_in_neutral

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“Defining Prosperity Down”
Paul Krugman – New York Times
August 1, 2010

“The point is that a large part of Congress – large enough to block any action on jobs – cares a lot about taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population, but very little about the plight of Americans who can’t find work.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/opinion/02krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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“Stiglitz Says U.S. Faces ‘Anemic Recovery,’ Needs More Stimulus”
Michael Heath and Rishaad Salamat
August 5, 2010

“It’s absolutely clear that you need a second round of stimulus,” Stiglitz said. “It needs to be better designed. It needs to be focused more on returns on investment, education, infrastructure, technology. And if you do those kinds of high- powered investments, the long-term national debt will be actually lower and the growth in the future will be higher.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-05/stiglitz-says-anemic-u-s-recovery-means-obama-should-seek-more-stimulus.html

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“Construction Unemployment Declines by 11,000″
Associated General Contractors of America
August 6, 2010

“Worse yet, there’s every indication that as the benefits of the stimulus fade the industry’s employment picture will get even worse.”

http://www.forconstructionpros.com/online/Construction-News/Construction-Unemployment-Declines-by-11-000/4FCP17216