Proclamation 5877 --
National Job Skills Week, 1988
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
During
National Job Skills Week, 1988, every American can reflect on the good news
that our economy is far along in its sixth year of uninterrupted growth,
employment is at an all-time high, and the average unemployment rate this year
is the lowest in 14 years. Our economy, unlike that of many of our
international competitors, is creating several million new jobs each year and
helping meet the challenges of greater economic competition and rapid
technological change.
Our
celebration of a week in recognition of all who foster, teach, and learn job
skills should include awareness that jobs now being created demand capabilities
and higher levels of literacy. A recent report by the Secretaries of Commerce,
Education, and Labor, ``Building a Quality Workforce,'' reminds us of these
demands and the concomitant need for improved skills among entry-level workers.
We can address workplace requirements in a changing economy if business, labor,
educators, community groups, and all levels of Government cooperate to
strengthen workers' skills and adaptability.
The
Federal Government is doing its part in this regard by supporting education,
training, and employment programs for disadvantaged and dislocated workers.
These programs include adult basic education, vocational education, and dropout
prevention efforts; the summer youth employment program; an expanded adjustment
program for dislocated workers; and training assistance through a $1.8 billion
Job Training Partnership Act block grant. The JTPA has been particularly
effective in reintegrating citizens into the work force, by stressing private
sector involvement and concentrating on skills actually needed in localities
across our land. The new Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance
Program will build upon JTPA to provide Federal grants to States, offering
rapid response to dislocation and a comprehensive approach to education and
employment assistance for workers affected by plant closings or large layoffs.
Let
us observe National Job Skills Week, 1988, with greater understanding of the
skills, needs, and devotion of
To
focus national attention on the role of job training in maintaining a
competitive work force, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 333, has
designated the week of October 9 through October 15, 1988, as ``National Job
Skills Week'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of this week.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of October, in the
year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,