President Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating a National Council for the American Worker to spur job retraining for workers to gain new skills for a rapidly changing economy.

Calling it the “beginning of a new national movement,” Mr. Trump secured pledges from 23 corporate chiefs and trade association leaders to provide apprenticeships or retraining for more than 3.8 million students and workers over the next five years.

“We’re in the longest positive job growth streak in American history,” Mr. Trump said at the White House event. “To continue this economic miracle … we must invest in job training and vocational education.”

The National Council for the American Worker will be comprised of top government officials, with an outside advisory board of industry leaders, to develop a national strategy to equip Americans “with the skills they need to thrive in the modern economy,” the president said.

In the East Room with the president were the heads of FedEx, Walmart, Home Depot, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, United Parcel Service, Raytheon and other leading employers, as well as groups such as the American Trucking Association and the Associated General Contractors.

Walmart alone pledged to retrain more than one million of its associates over the next five years.

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