The Marietta Times, May 5

Many victims of sexual assault or harassment do not come forward because they are afraid of retaliation. One might suppose that if any employer could protect them, it would be the U.S. military.

But the number of armed service members reporting they were retaliated against for filing sexual abuse or harassment complaints may be growing. In 2016, 84 victims said they faced retaliation.

By last year, the number was up to 146, according to the Pentagon.

And, the number of sexual assaults in the military may be on the upswing. The same Pentagon report noted that during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2015, 6,172 sexual assaults were reported in the military.

During the ensuing fiscal year, there were 6,769 assaults reported.

This is unacceptable. Period. Men and women serving our country in uniform make many sacrifices and often take many risks. Being sexually assaulted, then retaliated against for daring to report the crime, should not be something about which they need to worry. Defense Department officials need to crack down on this — now.

Online: https://bit.ly/2rrKEIh

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May 7, Chicago Tribune on record lows of unemployment among black people and Latinos in the United States:

Our favorite four-letter word, the one we shout regularly to the rooftops, is J-O-B-S, because employment growth creates prosperity and security for more Americans. The good news on this front deserves a shoutout: Nine years into an economic recovery and 15 months into the Trump administration, the U.S. economy continues to expand and add jobs.

The unemployment rate is now 3.9 percent for all Americans, the lowest level since 2000, while the jobless rate for black workers is 6.6 percent, the lowest figure since record-keeping began in the early 1970s. Yes, record-low joblessness for the black population, and for Latinos, a 4.8 percent rate that ties their record low. Both still are higher than the 3.6 percent rate for whites.

There’s much to lament in the inequality of opportunity for African-Americans in particular. Yet there is also clear evidence that the longer this era of economic expansion continues, the greater number of people benefit. Think back to late 2010, in the wake of the Great Recession, when the overall jobless rate approached 10 percent; it was above 16 percent for blacks.

Statistics are easy to cite and, in this case, to applaud. But what exactly is happening, and how to keep it going? Economists are less helpful once they point out the country has added jobs for 91 consecutive months since October 2010, the longest stretch of job growth on record. Experts can try to predict the future, but they are no better than the rest of us at nailing it.

Our view is that the more confidence employers feel in their prospects, the more people they will hire. President Donald Trump has given employers several good reasons to believe in themselves. One is tax reform. Another is his focus on reducing regulatory red tape; in response they’re investing in their businesses. Companies are hiring, but they also are betting on themselves by plowing money into plants and equipment: Capital spending climbed 20 percent in the first quarter over the year-prior period, according to an estimate by Credit Suisse.

The most important takeaway: Momentum and confidence are keys to this robust cycle of growth. As more people work and spend, businesses experience growing demand and anticipate more, which drives their investment and hiring. Housing gets a boost too. Home prices increased 7 percent in March, while the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index — which measures job security and other factors related to buying and selling houses — hit a record high.

The next step in this cycle should be more wage growth. Maybe you’ve noticed that bosses aren’t handing out raises the way they might, given an unemployment rate below 4 percent: Competition for workers should create faster-rising pay. In the construction business, for example, wages are growing as employers run short of job applicants. “The marketplace has eaten up all the individual talent and we’re all trying to poach each other,” one St. Louis contractor told The Wall Street Journal. We hope that’s a harbinger for the rest of the American workforce.

We also hope Illinois public officials learn from dwindling national unemployment in the era of Trump. Here, the March unemployment rate was 4.6 percent (compared with Wisconsin’s 2.9 percent and Indiana’s 3.2 percent). Springfield has some destructive habits, including high taxation, high spending and high regulatory burdens. They’re bad for business, bad for economic growth — and thus bad for job creation.

Online: http://www.chicagotribune.com/