Instead of Jobs, Dept. of Labor Gives Unemployed Another Jobs Website

The Department of Labor recently launched a website aimed at helping unemployed Americans find work. The website, entitled My Skills My Future, allows job-seekers to enter areas in which they have work experience to find listings for those types of jobs.

Before I even clicked on the link for the website, my first thought was that there must be something unique about this site that separates it from all the other job boards and employment Web sites out there. Otherwise, this would really be a waste of money and a smack in the face to those people who have been out of work for extended amounts of time. Instead of jobs, we'll give you... another employment Web site, to find jobs that either don't exist, or that you've already applied for. Thanks Department of Labor!

And basically, that's what this site is. Other than a video from the Secretary of Labor, there's not much new here. It's basically the Department of Labor's version of Monster, or CareerBuilder, just not as good.

After his weak "Summer of Recovery," I can't believe President Obama signed off on something like this. Keeping in mind that much of the inability to pass legislation to create jobs has been due to Republican obstructionism, President Obama should have done a lot more than create this Web site to create jobs while he still has the votes in Congress. Now, given the upcoming elections in November, it is highly unlikely that he'll be able to do anything much more significant. And if November goes as badly as some anticipate for Democrats, the rest of his first term as President could be in serious trouble if he has to fight Republicans even harder to enact jobs programs. This likely means even more trouble for those out of work.