American Morning
How the recession is affecting American attitudes on debt
Ron Brownstein's new Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor survey was released this morning. The poll raises the question: Are American attitudes towards the government and money changing to as great of a degree as they did during the Great Depression?
"The big takeaway is that while debt is more a chronic than acute concern for most people, we are seeing a broad movement in public attitudes toward enormous concern about both public and private debt-and a sense that the country has to focus on paying down debt despite the warnings from many economists that if government and families alike simultaneously tighten their belts, it will deepen and lengthen the downturn by squeezing buying power from the economy," Brownstein says.
This morning on American Morning, Christine Romans talks to Ron Brownstein about the findings and how this will impact the 2012 presidential election.
Despite stock market surge, economic experts warn that some banks are teetering
Stock markets surged yesterday after French President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said over the weekend that they would reveal a plan for solving the Eurozone's debt crisis by the end of the month. The plan, which will include recapitalizing European banks, will be presented to world leaders at the G20 meeting in Cannes.
However, it's not just international banks or foreign countries that are in trouble. Bank of America is still dealing with mortgage loans they bought from Countrywide in 2008, and some analysts think they'll need $50 billion dollars to pay for fraud lawsuits.
Today on American Morning, Robert Kuttner, co-editor of American Prospect, sits down with Carol Costello to discuss both the global and American economies and to weigh in on whether or not Occupy Wall Street could influence economic policy.
John Ratzenberger: 'We bought into the fallacy that everyone has to go to college'
The government reported this morning that the economy gained 103,000 jobs in September. Although it's better than economists expected, the numbers aren't large enough to really make a dent in the unemployment rate.
So, where are the jobs? Are the employment opportunities out there just not enough qualified people able to fill them? John Ratzenberger, actor and American manufacturing activist, says yes.
Ratzenberger is working with AOL/Huffington Post this week to launch the "10 by 20 Pledge Campaign," which aims to develop 10 million skilled workers by 2020. He joins Christine Romans on American Morning today to explain the campaign and to discuss how we can create manufacturing jobs in America.
Senator John Barrasso discusses Obama's jobs proposal, Occupy Wall Street protests
President Obama took on Republicans yesterday, calling on them to explain their continued opposition to his jobs bill and saying that now is not the time for political gamesmanship.
The President also said that he would be open to the Senate Democrats' 5% "millionaires surtax" proposal, which they introduced Wednesday as a way to cover the cost of the President's $447 billion jobs initiative.
Today on American Morning, Senator John Barrasso (R- Wyo.) speaks with Carol Costello to explain his opposition to the president's jobs bill and to explain how he feels about the Occupy Wall Street protests occurring around the country.
Jobs report: U.S. economy gained 103,000 jobs in September
According to the jobs report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the U.S. economy gained 103,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1%.
Jay Powell, an economist who worked in the Treasury Department for the Bush administration, sells Christine Romans on American Morning today that this indicates that the country is not on the precipice of a double-dip recession.
In advance of the meeting between French President Sarkozy and German Prime Minister Merkel about the European economy this weekend, Powell also explains how concerned Americans should be about the European financial crisis.
Jobs that are in high demand, despite the struggling economy
The jobs report for September will be released at 8:30am this morning. Right now, 14 million Americans are out of work.
If you're one of those 14 million, you might be thinking "Where can I find a job? What industries are hiring?"
There are 3 million jobs open right now. Here's a look at seven jobs that are in high demand even in this stagnant economy.
Retail workers
Retailers are looking to hire about 500,000 temporary workers with the holidays coming up, according to the National Retail Federation. And the major chains often hire these temp workers full-time after the holidays.
Commercial truck drivers
If you can pass the commercial license test, you can drive a truck. Your license will depend on the class of vehicle you know how to drive.
Industrial engineer
Sounds hard – and it is. Electrical and manufacturing companies are fighting tooth-and-nail for people with these skills.
These are people who can look at the manufacturing process at a car factory, for example, and figure out ways to stream-line things or increase efficiency. Online job postings are up 28% in the past 4 months, according to Monster.com.
Software engineer
If you know how to write software, build a mobile app or code a website, chances are you're going to be able to find work. The U.S. Labor Department expects very strong growth in this sector in the next few years.
Registered nurse
With so many aging baby boomers getting older and needing medical care, the U.S. Labor Department expects the need for registered nurses to grow by about 22% in the next six years.
Professional cook
We're talking a top-chef type. Professional cooks are hot commodities at hotels and restaurants, often swept up by competition at the drop of a hat. So there are constant jobs opening in this sector.
Accountant
Even though there are tons of people graduating from business school with degrees in accounting, these jobs are still hard to fill because they're often very specific for each state and industry. Monster.com says online job postings for these jobs are up 12% in the past few months.
For more information on these industries and job openings go to CNNMONEY.com.
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