The Taunton Employment Task Force has held a job fair every year since 1984, but this year, thanks to a dreary economy, not enough employers want to offer jobs to make the fair feasible.

The employment organization based out of Taunton, Mass., needed 25 companies to afford advertising, set-up, etc. for the fair, but only could find 10, three of which were temporary employment agencies and one which was a non-profit offering human services to job hunters.

This is yet another sad example of how the economy has been unable to provide meaningful employment for millions of Americans. Fewer people are employed now than at the beginning of the last decade, despite substantial population, stock market and GDP growth.

It is increasingly obvious that the former indicators of economic success mean little in today’s world thanks to the greater disconnect between the haves and have-nots due to unbridled “free” trade. Despite the supposed benefits of our economic agenda during the past three decades, millions of jobs have been lost and wages have stagnated as stock prices and corporate profits have soared.

This is a direct result of companies gaming the system by hiring elsewhere and then selling their products in the U.S., as the government continues to let businesses take advantage of the world’s largest consumer market without attempting to reap any benefits for its citizenry.

Our job problems are not merely confined to industrial producers because of our decisions (though they are the first casualty). As long as the U.S. pursues such an economic policy, communities such as Taunton will find it impossible to see job growth as wealth and strength are replaced by debt and weakness in order to finance our trade and budget deficits.

We must inform and cajole our peers and elected leaders to take action to change the course of our economy and nation in order to provide good jobs to the millions of Americans who need and deserve them.

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