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September 7, 2009

Obama to Deliver Labor Day Speech to Unions
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2673D5E:A6F02AD83191E16045CF21CB3FAA2C1221A4E82C900CD027&
 
US president travels to Ohio where he will address AFL-CIO members
during annual picnic 
President Barack Obama (file photo)U.S. President Barack Obama will mark
the Labor Day holiday Monday with a speech to the American federation of
labor unions - AFL-CIO.President Obama will address union members at the
group's annual picnic in the city of Cincinnati in the state of Ohio.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden is honoring American workers by
opening a Labor Day parade in the city of Pittsburgh, in the eastern
state of Pennsylvania. Labor Day in the United States dates back more
than 100 years and is dedicated to the more than 155 million workers in
the country. But the holiday is likely to be bittersweet this year for
the 15 million Americans who remain unemployed. Labor Department
statistics for August show the jobless rate jumping to a 26-year high of
nearly 10 percent. The so-called underemployment rate, which includes
the number of people who have settled for part-time jobs, or who have
given up looking for work, rose to nearly 17 percent. In his weekly
address before the Labor Day holiday, President Obama said job losses
have slowed dramatically compared to a few months ago. He also pointed
to other signs of economic recovery, including the manufacturing sector
posting its first gains in 18 months. In his speech to the unions, Mr.
Obama is expected to name Ron Bloom as senior counselor for
manufacturing policy. Bloom has served since February as the top adviser
to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from Mr. Obama's auto industry
task force. He will keep that post along with his new position.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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