Make plans to celebrate Labor Day

With summer winding down, it’s time once again to start thinking about Labor Day.

Celebrations of the American worker are held in various sites in Michigan on Monday, Sept. 7.

In Detroit, the annual Labor Day parade along Michigan Avenue for the building trades and Teamsters will take place Monday morning, Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. Paraders will line up as usual along Trumbull Avenue.

The Grand Rapids Labor Fest 2009 will be held at the Spirit of Solidarity monument at Ah-Nab-Awen Park, near the Gerald Ford Museum. Events will take place from noon to 4 p.m.

To participate in the Muskegon parade, participants should meet at Heritage Landing on Labor Day at 9 am, to catch the Pioneer Resources Shuttle buses to the staging area, which will be at the end of Clay Avenue.

In Ishpeming, the 20th annual Labor Day Festival will be held starting with a parade line-up at 9 a.m., and the start of the parade at 11 a.m. A picnic lunch will follow the parade. Busses will shuttle parade-goers from Marquette and other areas.

More ugly numbers for construction jobs

Labor Department numbers revealed on Aug. 7 showed that the U.S. economy shed 247,000 jobs in July. “That’s the bad news,” said the Center for American Progress. “The good news is the number of jobs lost was the fewest in 11 months, and the unemployment rate fell slightly – the first decline in 15 months – providing workers with some needed, relatively good news.”

The U.S. jobless rate fell to 9.4 percent in July, down from 9.5 percent in June.

The numbers show the federal stimulus program “is beginning to have a positive impact,” said the Labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, while adding the jobs numbers show “the economy is still in very bad shape.”

Indeed, the U.S. construction industry remains a basket case, the Associated General Contractors said on Aug. 7.

“The last 12 months have seen 1,053,000 construction workers lose their jobs, emphasizing the negative impact the current economy is having on the construction industry in particular,” said Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America.  The construction jobless rate is 18.2 percent.

“It is crucial,” he added, “that the stimulus money quickly finds its way into the industry, or thousands more construction workers will lose their jobs.”