Newsletter: August 20, 2009
In The News: DOL is "First Fed" for Project SEARCH
Starting next week, the DOL's Frances Perkins Building will serve as a school house and workplace for up to a dozen DC high school seniors with cognitive disabilities participating in a unique program called Project SEARCH. The Office of Disability Employment Policy welcomed the students, their families, teachers and counselors, along with the project's partners at a special reception on Wednesday.
The students will get hands-on workplace/skills-building experience, classroom sessions, and career counseling/placement services during the 9-month work/study program. Three 10-12 week work rotations in a variety of DOL offices, including ILAB, VETS, OFCCP, Job Corps and the Solicitor's Office, will provide the student participants with a broad view of opportunities at DOL, and the skills required to succeed in those positions.
Project SEARCH was launched in 1996 and has more than 140 sites across the country, the UK, and Australia with both private and public employers. The Labor Department is the first federal participant.
Project SEARCH is a significant step toward making the federal government a model employer and putting these students on the path to good jobs. The initiative is a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor and ODEP; the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS); the District of Columbia Department on Disability Services (DDS), the District of Columbia's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA), the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute of Catholic Charities (JPKI), and Project SEARCH Cincinnati.
Data Point: Real Earnings Increase
Earnings rose by 2.5 percent over the last year, but because of declining prices, real earnings — the value of what people can buy with their income — increased by 5.1 percent.
Chart: Over-the-year Increase in Average Hourly Earnings, July 2009
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls in current and constant dollars, not seasonally adjusted.
