Career Advice & News Center

At a time in which employment statistics lead the President's State of the Union address, dominate headlines and hold implications for votes in congressional elections, promises about job creation are not dismissed lightly.

When top executives from Comcast and NBC Universal appeared before a House of Representatives committee on Thursday, their pledges to create more full-time positions in the U.S. job market were scrutinized by lawmakers, Media Daily News reports.

In his testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, NBC Universal's CEO Jeff Zucker promised that his company's joint venture project with Comcast would be a "growing source of high-wage jobs."

Comcast's chief officer Brian Roberts added the promise of "no massive layoffs" once the deal is completed and a new workforce is fully staffed.

General Electric (GE), which owns NBC Universal, would own 49 percent of the proposed venture that top officials say will create the opportunity for aggressive reinvestment.

Zucker told the news source, "with the deal, GE will have billions of dollars to invest in jobs in its core business," and the company expands its workforce.

Sensitive to how fluctuations in the unemployment rate may affect their public image, several lawmakers have pledged to judge the merits of the proposal by its potential effect on consumers.

Ed Markey, a Democrattic Congressman from Massachusetts who used to chair the Energy and Commerce subcommittee told the news provider, "The issue before us really boils down to the seven C's - Will this combination of communications collossi curtail competition and cost to consumers? That is the question that must be answered as this process moves forward."

The companies' promise for a venture that will act as a job creation mechanism comes as the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent during January, representing the first time it has fallen below double digits since September 2009.