U-S Labor Chief looks to inner cities for jobs

U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman says a new government initiative in America’s inner-cities may yield workers to fill job openings around the country, including here in Iowa where a worker shortage threatens the booming economy. Next week, Herman and President Clinton will visit depressed areas of the country where job training programs will be targeted. Herman says by boosting the skills of residents in depressed areas, those blighted zones are turned-around and become better markets for U.S. products. The “New Markets” initiative will be launched on Independence Day. Clinton will visit Los Angeles, Kentucky, Mississippi, East St. Louis and two Indian reservations.