All the help we can give

Last week, the provincial government opened its 11th Career Work Centre. Situated in Stephenville, the centre is expected to be a hub for people in the Bay St. George area looking for work. Likewise, it's touted as a place for employers to find potential employees.

It might have come as just the right time. Last week, Statistics Canada released a study that found between October 2008 and October 2009, total employment in Canada declined by 400,000, while the unemployment rate rose from 6.3 per cent to 8.6 per cent.

The biggest sectors hit in that time period were manufacturing and construction. In the manufacturing industry, employment fell by 218,000 jobs. This included decreases in fabricated metal products; transportation equipment manufacturing; paper and printing; and furniture and related manufacturing. In construction, there were 73,000 job losses.

Other groups experiencing heavy employment losses during the same twelve-month period were young people, low-paid workers, families with young children, and core working-age immigrants who recently arrived in Canada.

Wow. The people that struggle to keep food on the table and clothes on their kids' backs are the ones losing the greatest number of jobs in the current recession.

It's little wonder some people in our society can't seem to get ahead. How can we expect that low-paid worker or that single parent struggling to feed their children to move out of their cycle of poverty when they're feeling the real pinch of the recession?

One can hope the provincial government's Career Work Centre will help encourage people to remain active participants in the workforce, even if they find themselves holding a pink slip. And would-be employers will hopefully take those extra few steps in looking for quality employees.

As well, hopefully the government can come up with stimulus packages or other programs, where needed, to help out groups of people who have lost their jobs due to the downturn in the economy.

As we wade through current recessionary waters, we need to make sure that all members of society are able to keep themselves and their families strong and healthy.