In the early 1990s when Bill Clinton first ran for US President, the issues were the economy and American jobs.

Hence, the Clinton campaign slogan “it’s the economy, stupid!

We’re headed for yet another contentious and potentially violent general elections ourselves, and the issues remain the same — economic prospects and job generation.

What makes the local problems intractable is the fact that it is no longer mere job creation; it is job preservation — the tricky tightrope of keeping people already on the payroll there.

No president or holdover leader -- should there be a chaotic scenario of non-proclamation of one after the May elections – wants to preside over an economy with a jobless growth.

And so the National Economic and Development Authority yesterday correctly recommended — and which we highly endorse — to President Arroyo and the Cabinet the prioritization of employment in its remaining months in office.

NEDA policy director Dennis Arroyo told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the Barangay Hall of Barangay Talipapa in Quezon City that the recommendation was among those made by NEDA during its Global Recession Impact News report that afternoon.

“We recommended that taking a cue from (US President Barack) Obama, the top priority should be employment. This should be the main concern in the months till May and in the next administration. Employment must be the main concern in the months till elections and until the next administration,” Arroyo was quoted by a major broadsheet as saying.

NEDA recommended that micro, small, and medium enterprises “should be a key in job creation.”

In his State-of-the-Union Address, Obama stated that he would focus on employment and unveiled a $30-billion fund for small business to ease the high unemployment rate in the US.

NEDA also recommended supporting the Department of Finance in its recent success in revenue collections with the better-than-expected performance of the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenues in January.