Local groups plan a jobs march in Washington

The local chapter of the NAACP and other groups want to put pressure on the President to do more to create jobs.

Officials from Philadelphia labor unions and civil and human rights groups are asking area residents to march with them in Washington to demand the federal government focus more on job creation. The October 2 march will draw thousands from across the country.

Jerry Mondesire heads the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP. He says with the national unemployment rate still hovering around 10 percent, it’s clear the Obama administration isn’t working hard enough to put people back to work.

“The administration has painted a rosy picture about the recession and wants to get people thinking it’s going to get better on its own,” he says. “It needs direct action. It’s not going to happen by prayer and whistling and just looking at it.”

Mondesire says he’d like to see Congress create a large scale public works program.  He says he also wants the Federal Reserve to make credit more accessible.

Mondesire says he hopes to have 15,000 people from the area in the nation’s capital in October.