this is "nightly business repo sue herera. good evening, everyone. welcome to the of "nightly busi i'm sue herera. >> and i'm t welcome on this labor day. we're taking a close look at labor, the backbone of the americ >> while the official numbers do point to a job market that is strong, even at or near full employment, way for everyone. a lot of people have been out of work for a long time, even if millions of jobs remain unfilled, and there are a few major reason reason number one, the skills gap. employers often say they can't find the right employees

to fill those openings. technology and automation as well as an aging population are changing the economy. which helps explain why the most job openings appear in the professional and businesses services sector. and in health care. a second major problem some labor force participation. the labor department says about 63% of our eligible workers are actually employed, or looking for work. a number largely unchachked in t in-changed. and reason number three, s say newly hired workers and there are millions of them make less than longer term employees. holding overall wages down. and the labor pool may shrink even more due to tighter immigration rules. and reason four, can the fed

continue raising interest rates, can the white house and congress pass tax reform, fix health care and get going on infrastructure fixes? and will mounting geopolitical tensions affects the decisions made by hiring managers across the country. >> let's bring in our panel now for more discussion on the state of the labor market. we have mark zandi, john breeman, and john nobis. i've seen a lot of your trucks around. let me start, mark, because i think it might be good to have you paint an overall picture of where the labor market stands right now in america. >> it's a good picture, tyler. we're creating lots of jobs. over 2.5 million per annum. and all kinds of jobs.

low paying jobs for sure, middle paying and high paying jobs. and at the current rate of job growth, unemployment and underemployment continues to decline. so the unemployment rate is now closing in on 4%. which by any estimation is pretty close to full employment. wage growth is punk, but also picking up slowly. so all in all, in my view a good job market. >> and if i could turn you to the skills gap which we listed as one of the four major reasons why we have dislocation if you will to a certain excellent ten job market. do you see a skills gap or is it industry specific? >> yeah, and thanks so much for having me. we are most certainly seeing a skills gap across virtually every industry. companies are trying to find

employees and they are not able to find them. >> john, are you hiring? >> we are absolutely hiring. and i'm glad you see our trucks all over the place. >> i sure do. >> if we could find more people, you'd see more of them. >> that is to my point. are you having a hard time finding people who want to do the hard work that your company does, moving and storage and so forth? >> it is very difficult work. and that is why people invite us into their home every day to be able to do that moving and so it's difficult to find those people, but we're identifying the great people in this country that will do the work. but at the same time for us to grow, we know that because of the tight labor market, we have to find alternative ways to deliver that same service and we're introducing those methods to the country through things like our value flex interstate program. >> tell me more about that and have you had to pay a higher wage because it is so hard to

find the right workers? >> yeah, so what we've had to do is really incentivize and come up with ways to retain the great workers we have and without having to hire thousands more, sending our guys across the country for instance to deliver the belongings from one side of the country to the other, we've had to outsource. and find ways to do that delivery while we'll still provide the loading and unloading on either end given that we've got that national presence. >> before i go back to mark zandi, john, they are having a hard tim people to do the hard work. and i expect that you see that in lots of industries. today's younger workers may not want to work in manufacturing or on farms and in construction. am i right or wrong? >> yeah, tyler, i think you're right. we're sort of seeing a perfect storm right now mr. where we

have one generation retiring, baby bheemp boomers at the rate >> i'll give you another 20 seconds. >> and then the newer generations just cannot replace those workers with those skills and that experience in manufacturing or farm work or technology or really anything right now. so what you're hearing is real across all sectors. >> and mark, you make the point that this is not going to improve anytime soon because we do have a robust job market along with those underlying things that we just talked about. you say part of the solution would be more immigration, not less. yet we find ourselves in an environment where that may not happen. >> yeah, that is a big mistake. as was pointed out, the baby boom generation is retiring en masse. and labor force growth is

already slowing and will come to a virtual stand still 5, 10 years from now even at the current rate of immigration. so if we reduce the amount,le labor force will decline which will make us feel like a japan or like a japanese economy. so i think it's clear that going forward, that we will need a lot more immigrants. and certainly skilled immigration. i don't think e about that. but even unskilled, it will be difficult to find the kind of tlab we ner that we need to bui homes and drive trucks and pick the fruit and do all the jobs that we needt done. so immigration is key and we need more imgrachbmigrantimmigr. >> and how important are new people to the united states? immigrants in helping you fill your labor needs. do you hire a lot of new

immigrants on or what? are they more willing to do the jobs than native born americans? >> as ceos across the country i'm sure deal with the same thing, we deal with the hand we're deltalt. we leave it to the smart people to figure out the regulation and what that regulation should be. what we do is say how are we going to address what is coming in 2020 and 2025 and the way to solve some of those things is through technology. so we're keeping a close eye and working with partners on autonomous vehicles. you mentioned do we have the people to do the driving. we're looking at automated ways to move things. we really have to embrace the technology curve that is coming and that is already here. and even little things like using the social media platform to find the right people that can do the customer service and the heavy lifting. it's really -- it comes down to matching that technology piece with keeping local and really finding the right people to

perform those tough tasks. >> all right. gentlemen, we have to leave it there. mark zandi, john breeman and john novis. wisconsin unemployment rate is wofbt lowest of the lowest country, but it wasn't always like that. brian sullivan recently traveled to kenosha to see how business owners are fee >> reporter: stunned by plant closings and job losses, wisconsin turned red for the white house for the first time since 1984. things were bleak here for a number of years. not anymore. after peaking at more than 9% in 2009, wisconsin's unemployment rate is now one of the lowest in america. and here in the southeast corner of the state, the problem is not finding a job, it's finding workers. >> there is a strain on our labor force right now, there is a skilled labor shortage in the region, in the state, and throughout the country that needs to be addressed.

we cannot find skilled qualified labor. >> reporter: president trump is taking credit for part of the recovery and a million jobs created around the nation. so when republican governor scott walker joined us at a manufacturing facility in kenosha, we asked him how much of wisconsin's recovery comes from d.c. and how much is due to the big changes and hard decisions made on the state level over the past few years. >> we started this years ago. companies where they make industrial light, one of the great companies in the country, they moved up from illinois because they saw the change. we're a state where the tax burden has gone down, regulatory environment has improved. lawsuits where going away. the workforce has improved. >> reporter: whoever you give the credit to, undeniable is a bit of a manufacturing renaissance taking place here. and a renaissance that students are excited to an part of. >> i feel like a lot of manufacturing is coming back to

america. everybody wanted to go overseas where it was cheap and now they are realizing you actually need skilled workers which you can find right here in america and wisconsin. >> reporter: and with the skills they are learning, they will likely have their choice of jobs. amazon has a massive new facility up the road. many companies are moving here like this one which relocated from illinois for the lower taxes. but the truth on the ground here in the badger state is that the recovery is real. and people remain optimistic that washington will keep its promises. whether that will happen is also still up in the air. for night"nightly businreport," brian wilson. still ahead, we'll tell you where the jobs are in heal.

as we've been reporting, a tight labor market is one of the reasons why businesses are having a hard time finding qualified workers. kate rogers traveled to denver, an area where the problem is especially acute to speak with business owners about the skills gap. >> reporter: for denise, the biggest challenge in running her construction management firm is simply finding the right people for the job. her business is a second generation family owned company with 12 to 15 year rounddependie project, she could needs more

than 100 subcontractors at a time and that is when things get complicated. >> the younger novice trained not as seasoned as previously and not a career path that is not glamorous. it's not facebook. it's something that you are going for work hard, but you also get paid really well for. so it's a hard sell, not impossible sell. >> repor burgess isn't alone. finding skilled labor has become a top issue for main street behind taxes and government regulations and here in denver, it's an extremely tight labor market with unemployment at just over 2%. >> there are really good dudes that companies are looking to hire. but it's a real struggle sometimes. a particular problem for smaller companies that don't have the networks that large companies do. >> reporter: in evergreen, colorado, there are seven full-time workers at this bike

shop. and those with particular sk repllsets would be nea >> w how competitive it is in the front range, it would be very difficult for us to find a replacement for somebody with that level of experience. >> reporter: so like burgess, he works to offer competitive benefits like paid time off and flexibilities in scheduling to on to the good workers both small businesses have. >> with the cycling industry being what it is, very few are making six figures plus. so our ability to be able to retain employees has to come from somewhere outside of just the dollar figure that they are making. that ability to hold on to their enjoy chlt in work in the bike shot is very key. >> reporter: kate roger, denver. and there is one field in particular that is especially in need of workers.

genetic kate rogers is back with a look at where the jobs are in danville >> reporter: soon she will move on to a cardiology clinic helping to identify genetic risks for individuals. the d has grown came dramatically over the past decade. and now gla genetic counselors like mcmahon are in demand with the bureau of labor statistics estimatesle okay spags set to grow nearly 30% by the end of 2024.

>> as ga nenetics permeates everything, there won't be enough counselors to see every patient. >> reporter: they don't need to be doctors, but do need masters degrees making on average $80,000 a year. salaries can reach up to annual depending on location. as the field grows and the number of programs is increasing. >> the need genetic counselors is clear here with 25 on staff. the health system says it can't hire new counselors quickly enough as testing becomes cheaper and more popular. the shopt home to the my code community health initiative, one of the largest databases of its kind. >> next few year, we would need hundreds of genetic counselors. i think they will become the key -- a key member of the team in discussing with patients and

family what is do next. >> reporter: they also have a medical school and will soon oofr offer a masters to bring more into the feeltd. a field. and t ability to help more than just a paishtient is a wor while payoff. >> we're there for the patients and colleagues and we are able to kind of bring to the forefront the fact that we're not just taking care o the patient, we're taking care of the entire attempt. >> reporter: i'm kate roger, danville, pennsylvania. coming up, a b

your smartphone probably knows where you are, but our aging 911 system wasn't built to read all of the information on dangerous equa 70% of the roughly 240 million 911 calls that we make each year come from cellphones, and that's working to fix t >> we're here and it's about five miles apart >> reporter: it's a problem that's dogge built in the 1960s, 911 works well with land line phones, but call on a cellphone and 911 gets only an approximate location, often using nearby cell towers. even if the call is made at a 911 call center.

>> directly 4,000 meters away from where we're a >> repor thom county opera delaware is testing rapid sos, software allowing the existing 911 system to read more data coming from smart phones. >> it pin points it right on top located. >> reporter: the id 2012. >> 911 workers are doing heroic we're giving them no data to g those ca >> reporter: he teamed with a friend on an emerg >> it wa problem, someone is calling in, in distress, no idea where they >> reporter: they co-founded rapid sos. more important was the four years they spent taking input from government officials and many centers.

they released a free app called haven. last december a thick, damp fog blue ridge m >> your mind just goes into fr >> reporter: so he tapped the haven app. >> operator told me where i would be and they >> reporter: almost 20% of the nation's 911 call centers using rapid sos. it may cover most of the country for some enough. in 2014 an fcc study said fixing 911 location issues could save more than 10,000 lives a year. >> congress talked about it but there hasn't legislation let alone any passage of something that would make >> tom wheeler is one of three former fcc chairmen who has

invested i >> they have built a platform that can be applicable in multiple kinds of situations, no. >> reporter: those situations, upgrades to home security, car monitoon wearable where rapid sos hope money. >> if this were on a health wear going to hav informat pres if it's coming car, where was the impact, how many a? >> the cost, $3 to $10 a month. pay. the enormity of what happened, that's what drives all of us. >> this is technology that's goine a lo >> reporter: rapid sos expects to roll out upgrad consumer products later this year. there's more that it can do for the 911

if the phone has a camera it can put out a video feed that operat responders to allow them to see what's waiting for them at the almost 90% of family busi third generation t one key to survival, it's innovation. one midwesterner is using her fa capabilities to make a bright idea for removable wallpaper and make it st >> i feel like this is more of a story. >> reporter: the story is the thing for elizabeth reese. she never thought this would become the third chapter in the business >> i didn't see my family's busi it wasn't ev it wasn't. >> reporter: in 2010 elizabeth's father mentioned a sales opening

while visiting her. once she moved to new york, she bega graduates to billboards and later wraps, everything from trucks and buses to building facades. over time the printers of the hu >> that's when i thought, wow, we could be doing other things. >> other things mike reese thought could help with other things. she dabbled in signs for doors but a new york office space chan >> that was kind of when i started d saying, what's out there in removable wallpaper.

>> reporter: eight months or and low en one of >> reporter: removable wallpaper designed with an artist's touch. >> her plan, to license contemporary new york. >> all hand water color. >> reporter: and print wallpaper on demand back in milwaukee. mike reese was on board almost >> we had the back end here. we have it. we have a good system and it's, agai. it's printed and out the door it >> profitable almost from the start, elizabeth's ventures sold paper in 2013. they sell for $40 apiece on the website as well as urban outfitters, bloomingdale sites. >> being abl something and start over from

sc feeling. >> shelly lynch sparks has used chasing paper in more than 20 projects including the new office space she's developing for rent the runway. >> i'm always customizing for commer. we designed the wallpaper. her colors are bold and give it a pop. >> reporter: chasing papers are working for diy'er it's helping them sell their story. >> people are wallpapering in a now it's an accent wall. it's the back splash kitchen, in a kids' room. it feels like a piece of art. >> in fact, chasing paper will introduce a new art coll this fall.

elizabeth reese is changing ente home to milwaukee where might make business. i think wallpaper is making co >> i think so, too. >> it's remo you can chan tired of it. >> i've steamed a lot of wallpapers on the wa that will thanks for watching this special edition report." i'm sue herera. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. have a great night, everybody, and

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