Labor Sec. in Lower Price Hill: Economy has turned a corner

Around 38,000 people remain out of work in Hamilton County.

Among them is Ebony Cobbins, a mother of four who lost her job due to the pandemic and said in July she planned to begin rationing her insulin to cover other expenses.

SCALIA TOURED A METAL WORKSSHOP TODAY.

HE THEN MET WITHREPORTER LARRY SEWARD ANDCLAIMED THE ECONOMY ALREADYHAS TURNED A CORNER.nats tc 13:54:43)"(larry)mister secretary how are you?i'm larry..."(track)We met U-SSecretary of Labor EugeneScalia inside a Cincinnatiwarehouse owned byConsolidated Metal Products.The family-owned auto supplymanufacturer showed Scaliaaround a business on therebound.After furloughs inApril and May... the businesshas brought people back... andeven hired new faces.(sot/ tc13:56:42/ eugene scalia/ ussecretary of labor) "(larry)you think the economy's turnedthe corner?

How?

Well we hadan economy that was doingextraodinarily well before thevirus hit in march..."(sot/ tc13:57:12/ eugene scalia/ ussecretary of labor)"...whatwe've seen is millions ofpeople getting back to work.we've seen the unemploymentrate drop nationwide..."(track)National, state and regionalunemployment fell in July.August numbers come out Friday.But Ohio estimated 38-thousandpeople in Hamilton Countyremain out of work...including Ebony Cobbins... amarried mom of four forced offher job by COVID-19.

In JulyCobbins told us she planned toration her 700-dollar diabetesmedicines to pay billsunemployment didn't cover.(sotfrom july cobbins interview/tc 5:08/ ebony cobbins/unemployed)"i don't like tojeopardizing my life.

I needto be here for my kids."(track)She is in a better placenow... Cobbins may soon beable to work from home.Herhusband is an underwriter.Shehas an MBA and hope.They'velearned to budget throughemergencies... including thesinus infection weakening hervoice... but nothing calmsfear of another coronavirussurge and what the federalgovernment plans to do aboutit(sot/ tc 3:15/ ebonycobbins/ unemployed)"arebusinesses going to have to beshut down?

Are businessesgoing to have to be put backon the stay-at-home order?

Dothey have an agenda or thingsthey know they need to beprepared to take care of thistime around?"(sot/ tc13:59:43/ eugene scalia/ ussecretary of labor)"(larry)what's your answer?

(eugene)we're so much more prepared todeal with the virus today thanwe were in march.

Weunderstand so much better howit's transmitted.

How to avoidthat.

We have treatmentsnowthat we didn't have then."(track)Scalia believes theeconomy... especiallymanufacturing... will growbecause of the new US-Mexico-Canadagreement.

Histour here did nothing tochange his mind(sot/ tc14:03:45 / eugene scalia/ ussecretary of labor)"by inlarge i think americanbusinesses are very, veryfocused on keeping theirworkers safe, keeping theircustomers safe and that'sgotta be whathey're doing tokeep people safe and ifthey're not careful aboutsafety, we at the labordepartment are going toinvestigate and we'll bringcitations if we have to aswell."(larry)"The secretary'sstop here is one of manycheckups with recoveringbusinesses.

He calls it hisnational Opening AmericanAgain tour.

LarrSeward...WCPO... Nine News."