PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh visited Philadelphia to help celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.
Walsh told KYW Newsradio that the largest challenges to the workforce right now are child care and inequities along gender and racial lines.
"You know, what we really have to focus on, in my opinion, the next next few months, the next couple years, quite honestly, is getting women back into the workforce," he said, "and we have to really tackle the issue of unemployment in the Black community, and the Latino community."
Walsh cited unemployment figures at 9.2% for the Black community and 7.4% for Latino job-seekers, compared to 5.6% for white people.
"When people started going back to work, school was hybrid," he added, "so there's no question that [childcare is] a big part of the issue as well."
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Another obstacle, he speculated, was lingering fear of the coronavirus. "I think there's still concern though with people not being vaccinated," he said.
The secretary also had a strong opinion on the theory that the government supplement is preventing people from going back to work.
"There's no indication at all that the supplement is keeping people from from looking for work or going back to work," said Walsh.
"We're looking at it, particularly in those states where they've either cut the benefit back or they're threatening to cut the benefit back. We see no sign of that at all."