Friday’s jobs report offered good news, with 850,000 new jobs. And yet, even with substantial progress in employment, America has a steep challenge ahead. As a CNN article noted Thursday:

“Even though the US job market is rapidly improving, the economy is still far from back-to-normal. Employers added 850,000 jobs in June, more than economists had expected. But the US economy is still down 6.9 million jobs compared with February 2020, and the unemployment rate inched higher, rising to 5.9% from 5.8% in May.”

The American economy needs good, well-paying jobs to continue its ascent. America’s New Business Plan — and members of the Start Us Up coalition — offers recommendations on how to create and fill them.

5 policies Washington should enact to end the climate crisis and joblessness
Bobby Franklin and Michael Brown of the National Venture Capital Association authored a column in Tech Crunch discussing policy steps to address the most pressing challenges, including joblessness. Among them: the oft-discussed startup visa, to address the lack of immigration infrastructure that results in America pushing away foreign-born founders. The column also discusses workforce development programs and cites the power of startups to contribute to addressing the climate crisis.

We need this rule to keep foreign-born founders in the U.S.
Lindsay Milliken with the Federation for American Scientists and Doug Rand echoed the importance of reforming our immigration system to better attract foreign-born entrepreneurs. Discussing the U.S.’ lack of a startup visa, the article also discusses the Biden Administration’s step to bring back the International Entrepreneur Rule, which would help retain these innovators. But action needs to be comprehensive, the authors write:

“It is vital that Congress also take action to welcome international entrepreneurs on a permanent basis—not only by enacting a startup visa bill, but also by ensuring that every would-be entrepreneur has a fair shot at success. That means providing a path to citizenship for Dreamers, H-1B workers, and other immigrants already contributing to our economy for years, as well as enough green cards to fully meet the needs of U.S. families and employers.”

Oh, Canada! How Outdated U.S. Immigration Policies Push Top Talent to Other Countries
Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, will soon testify before the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship to discuss how the U.S. is losing high-skilled immigrants to Canada due to difficulties in obtaining temporary work status and permanent residence in the U.S. Anderson’s testimony echoes calls from America’s New Business Plan to create a startup visa, noting “many innovations are realized through entrepreneurship.”