EPI in the news

• Black jobless rate hits highest level since 2021

  The Economic Policy Institute noted in its analysis of the rising unemployment rates that federal job cuts have frequently been cited as a contributing factor for the employment losses of Black women due to their relative overrepresentation in that sector.

  Black Enterprise | September 22, 2025
• Local financier expects more interest rate cuts from Fed this year

  The Economic Policy Institute noted earlier this year that “tariffs are most effective when they focus on well-defined and narrowly tailored goals, they work best as part of a larger strategy.”

  Public Radio Tulsa | September 22, 2025
• What Is the H-1B Visa Program, and How Is Trump Changing It?

  The program requires employers to pay H-1B workers, at a minimum, either the average wage for the job and the city where it is based, or the average wage of American-born workers doing the same job. Companies are prohibited from paying H-1B workers less than other workers with similar skills and qualifications. Still, about 60 percent of the positions paid “well below” the local median wage for the occupation in 2019, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which cited the Labor Department’s “broad discretion” to set H-1B wage levels.

  New York Times | September 22, 2025
• What is the H-1B visa program, and how is Trump changing it?

  The program requires employers to pay H-1B workers, at a minimum, either the average wage for the job and the city where it is based, or the average wage of U.S.-born workers doing the same job. Companies are prohibited from paying H-1B workers less than other workers with similar skills and qualifications. Still, about 60% of the positions paid “well below” the local median wage for the occupation in 2019, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which cited the Labor Department’s “broad discretion” to set H-1B wage levels.

  The Economic Times | September 22, 2025
• Union groups detail opposition to the H-2B visa program in meatpacking

  The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) recently published its position after a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) came out on the H-2B visa program.

  The think tank stated in its report that the H-2B system has become “deeply flawed,” leading to workforce issues.

  Meat Poultry | September 22, 2025
• When Almost Nobody Can Afford Kids, Marriage, or a New Car—Has the ‘Middle Class’ Just Disappeared?

  Think tanks like Brookings (widely viewed as centrist to liberal) and the Economic Policy Institute (widely viewed as liberal) argue that without coordinated action, the middle class will continue to erode—making affordability less about choices and more about structural barriers. Still, how to pay for those investments fuels sharp political debates.

  Investopedia | September 22, 2025
• From electricity to rent, monthly bills are tipping the inflation scale

  “I don’t think this is a two-month blip on electricity. We’re in for higher electricity prices for a while, and someone should do something about it,” said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute. He suggested requiring companies that build data centers to pay for new infrastructure, as well as extending Biden’s climate credits.

   

  Bivens said that policymakers should be worried about signs of a softening labor market. Nearly twice as many workers have gone at least six months without a job now compared to early 2023, a sign of a tough climate for unemployed Americans. In recent years, Bivens said, “for most people, wages and income kept up with inflation … In the post-pandemic period, there were a bunch of shocks going on. A lot of them hurt. But the buttress was an incredibly strong labor market. Now, we’ve let inflation start turning back up, and we don’t have an incredibly strong labor market anymore.”

  The Washington Post | September 22, 2025

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