News release archive: Browse by date

MARCH 28 | Recent Gains Only Went to Highest Incomes

MARCH 28 | Immigration Reform, Getting it Right, An Agenda for Shared Prosperity Forum (news release [PDF])

MARCH 21 | Immigration Reform, Getting It Right (Conference Call)

MARCH 15 | Getting Immigration Reform Right Briefing Paper released (News release [PDF])

MARCH 14 | Falling oil imports lessens US deficit

MARCH 9 | Cold weather chills job growth

MARCH 9 | Mexico's Economic Turmoil and Immigration to U.S.

MARCH 7 | Inflation and Labor Costs

FEBRUARY 28 | Latest data show more want unions

FEBRUARY 22 | Agenda for Shared Prosperity holds its second event on Capitol Hill (News release [PDF])

FEBRUARY 22 | Lessons from NAFTA for Korea: Implications for the proposed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (Congressional Briefing)

FEBRUARY 21 | Slow growth in manufacturing is culprit in job loss

FEBRUARY 13 | US trade deficit -- What goes up, but not down?

FEBRUARY 9 | The real story behind inequality and education

FEBRUARY 2 | Job growth has its ups and downs

FEBRUARY 2 | A health plan that's no cure

JANUARY 31 | Minimum wage - Business tax cuts and poverty

JANUARY 30 | Repairing the harm of globalization

JANUARY 24 | Recent low employment rates reflect weak economy

JANUARY 23 | Bush health plan no cure

JANUARY 17 | Unprecedented income inequality

JANUARY 11 | EPI launches Agenda for Shared Prosperity (News release [PDF]) (Web site)

2006

DECEMBER 15 | No wage-push inflation in sight

DECEMBER 13 | Weakest jobs recovery on record

DECEMBER 8 | Service sector shows solid job gains

DECEMBER 7 | $7.25 minimum wage important as first step

DECEMBER 6 | Money dwindles for job training

DECEMBER 6 | Turkey after the crisis — Dec. 12 Event

NOVEMBER 30 | Reading the public on the economy-December 5 conference call

NOVEMBER 29 | Why the Fed should lower interest rates

NOVEMBER 28 | Consumer Spending Lags for Low and Middle-Income Workers

NOVEMBER 27 | Turkey After the Crisis — Report and Dec. 12 Event

NOVEMBER 27 | States gain with higher minimum wage

NOVEMBER 21 | Legal awards have little impact on economy

NOVEMBER 15 | Government aid declines for college students

NOVEMBER 15 |NCLB contradictions

NOVEMBER 14 | Don't blame Black Culture for Economic Trends

NOVEMBER 8 | A tough recovery by any measure

NOVEMBER 3 | Unemployment low, but Job growth slowing

NOVEMBER 2 | Health care and jobs are top economic concerns, state experts say

NOVEMBER 1 | Boo! Reasons why the economy should scare you

NOVEMBER 1 | Fuel for Thought: The High Cost of Energy

OCTOBER 31 | Earnings gains minimal over recovery

OCTOBER 27 | Housing weakness slows economy

OCTOBER 26 | The HIV/AIDS Crisis Among Lesotho Workers

OCTOBER 25 | Minimum Wage - 6 State Initiatives and the Real Job Impact

OCTOBER 20 | Making health care worse

OCTOBER 19 | More high schoolers enrolled in college prep

OCTOBER 18 | Faster wage growth meets slower price growth

OCTOBER 12 | Minimum Wage - To Index Or Not To Index ?

OCTOBER 11 | Stock Boom Means Little For Most Workers

OCTOBER 10 | Conference call: Wednesday, 12 noon (Eastern)

OCTOBER 10 | Faux’s The Global Class War – Detroit Public Event

OCTOBER 10 | Can 'No Child Left Behind' Be Repaired?

OCTOBER 6 | Job market slowdown entrenched

OCTOBER 4 | Growing NAFTA trade deficits displace jobs

OCTOBER 2 | Kentucky River Decision Expected Tuesday

SEPTEMBER 27 | Safety net failing many children

SEPTEMBER 25 | More Americans go without, as employers increasingly drop health coverage (Conference Call September 27)

SEPTEMBER 25 | Three countries assess NAFTA (International Conference Call September 28)

SEPTEMBER 25 | China currency reform bill sparks debate on unfair trade practices

SEPTEMBER 20 | Manufacturing Jobs and Wages on the Ropes

SEPTEMBER 19 | Costs of foreign borrowing pile up

SEPTEMBER 15 | Real wages still stagnant, even as inflation moderates

SEPTEMBER 14 | Effects of financial embargo on Palestine

SEPTEMBER 13 | Job growth slowdown explained

SEPTEMBER 8 | Updated Retirement Security Issue Guide

SEPTEMBER 6 | Gender pay gap shrinking for all the wrong reasons

SEPTEMBER 2 | The State of Working America 2006/2007 has been released and is no longer under embargo.

SEPTEMBER 1 | Social Class' Role in Schooling and Achievement

SEPTEMBER 1 | Slowing job growth reflects overall economy (Jobs Picture)

SEPTEMBER 1 | Is the South American Worker Better Off? (Event)

AUGUST 31 | Minimum Wage -- Nine Years of Neglect (Issue Brief)

AUGUST 30 | Effects of Housing Slowdown (Snapshot)

AUGUST 29 | Median Income Up, But Not For Working-Age Families (Income Picture)

AUGUST 28 | The State of Working America 2006/2007 (New Book)

AUGUST 25 |22 states and DC have raised minimum wage (Issue Guide)

AUGUST 24|Examining the New Census Data on Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Coverage (Conference Call)

AUGUST 10 |Immigration Bill Would Protect U.S. Workers (Policy Memo)

AUGUST 9 | Poverty Rates and Work for Single Mothers (Snapshot)

AUGUST 4 | Unemployment Rate Rises as Job Growth Slows (Jobs Picture)

AUGUST 3 | Slovak Republic's Big Jobs Problem (GPN Report)

AUGUST 3 | New State-Level Analysis on Effect of Minimum Wage Bill

AUGUST 2 | What's Pushing Inflation? (Snapshot)

AUGUST 1 | When is a Raise not a Raise? (Policy Memo)

JULY 26 | States Help Raise Minimum Wage's Value (Snapshot)

JULY 25 | Health Care: U.S. Spends Most, Covers Least (Book Preview)

JULY 20 | What do Voters Want? Their Money's Worth (Viewpoint)

JULY 24 | Bush Administration’s Career Advancement Accounts Miss Mark (News Release)

JULY 19 | Child Poverty Higher in US than Developed Nations (Snapshot)

JULY 19 | Hungary's Jobless Picture Worsens (GPN Report)

JULY 19 | Wages up Monthly, but Flat over Last Quarter & Over Recovery (Brief Analysis)

JULY 12 | Union Rights for 8 Million at Stake (Issue Brief)

JULY 10 | Chicago Can Have Better Wages AND Low Prices (Viewpoint)

JULY 7 | Job Growth Slows Again, Indicating Trend (Jobs Picture)

JULY 6 | Australia's Underemployment, Gender Wage Gap (GPN Report)

JULY 6 | Minimum Wage Issue Guide Updated

JULY 5 | Black-White Income Gap Re-Widens (Snapshot)

JUNE 30 | U.S. Deeper in Debt to Foreign Countries (International Picture)

JUNE 27 | CEO Pay vs. Lowest-Paid Workers (Snapshot)

JUNE 21 | CEO-worker pay imbalance grows (Snapshot)

JUNE 20 | Minimum wage buying power hits 51-year low (Issue Brief)

JUNE 16 | Trade deficit improves, but overvalued dollar needs careful management (Current Acocunt Picture)

JUNE 15 | How Wal-Mart Can Raise Wages and Maintain Healthy Profits (Issue Brief)

JUNE 12 | 5 Economic Trouble Spots (Policy Memo)

JUNE 9 | Soaring Oil Prices Spur Trade Deficit (Brief Analysis)

JUNE 7 | Argentina Devaluation Holds Lessons for U.S. (Snapshot)

JUNE 2 | Job Growth Disappoints — Again (Jobs Picture)

MAY 31 | EPI Offshoring Issue Guide Now Updated

MAY 31 | Tax Cuts Mostly Benefit the Rich (Snapshot)

MAY 25 | Profits Squeeze Compensation (Brief Analysis)

MAY 24 | College Grads Find Weak Labor Market (Snapshot)

MAY 17 | How the Rich Will Get Richer (Snaphsot)

MAY 17 | Wages Reach Starting Line (Brief Analysis)

MAY 16 | Rove Wrong on Income (Brief Analysis)

MAY 15 | The Immigration Piece Bush May Miss (Viewpoint)

MAY 12 | Trade Deficit Improves, Perilous Trajectory Remains (Brief Analysis)

MAY 11 | The Slack behind our Unemployment Rate (Snapshot)

MAY 11 | Swim Together or Sink Alone? (Book)

MAY 10 | Economic Growth Stats from White House are Misleading (Snapshot)

MAY 10 | Charter Schools — Examining the Evidence (Available Resource)

MAY 5 | Administration Attacks Contractor Health Benefits (Policy Memo)

MAY 5 | Wage Growth is Bright Spot in Jobs Report (Jobs Picture)

MAY 4 | White House “Cherry-Picking” Economic Data (Snapshot)

MAY 4 | Productivity Up but Real Compensation Flat on Yearly Basis (Brief Analysis)

MAY 3 | White House Economic Spin Analyzed (Snapshot)

MAY 1 | Administration Attacks Traditional Pension Plans (Policy Memo)

APRIL 28 | Strong GDP Masks Failing Wage Gains (GDP Picture)

APRIL 26 | Trade Imabalance, Manufacturing, and the Dollar (Snapshot)

APRIL 20 | Privatization Shows its Flaws in Five Countries (GPN Report)

APRIL 20 | Median Income Still Lagging (Brief Anaylsis)

APRIL 20 | Income Gap Widens in South Africa, Narrows in Brazil (Snapshot)

APRIL 20 | Dispelling the High School Graduation Myth (Book)

APRIL 18 | Mismeasuring High School Graduation Rates (Report Preview)

APRIL 12 | Don't Blame Health Insurance (Snapshot)

APRIL 7 | Job Growth at Five (Jobs Picture)

APRIL 7 | Five Year Record Shows Historically Weak Job Growth (Jobs Picture Preview)

APRIL 6 | Tax Enforcement Crisis Grows (Book)

APRIL 5 | 'Insourcing' Not Creating Jobs in U.S. Economy (Snapshot)

MARCH 30 | Gross Domestic Income: Bigger Pie, Smaller Slice (Snapshot)

MARCH 29 | New Census Measures Undercount Poverty (Issue Brief)

MARCH 23 | Effects of Taxpayer Bill of Rights in Colorado (Briefing Paper)

MARCH 22 | Working and Still Poor (Snapshot)

MARCH 21 | Panama's Job Growth Falls Behind GDP, Mostly Low-Income (GPN Report)

MARCH 16 | Wage Growth Almost Beats Inflation, but Just Misses (Short Analysis)

MARCH 15 | The Minority Wealth Gap (Snapshot)

MARCH 14 | Trade Deficit Hits Record High — Again (Current Account Picture)

MARCH 14 | Does the Trade Deficit Cost Manufacturing Jobs? (Briefing Paper)

MARCH 10 | Good News for Jobs and Wages (Jobs Picture)

MARCH 8 | Government Interest on Foreign Debt to Double by 2011 (Snapshot)

MARCH 1 | Living Standards Stall Despite Rapid Productivity Growth (Snapshot)

FEBRUARY 23 | Israeli Economic Growth Only Benefits Top Earners (GPN Report)

FEBRUARY 23 | EPI Analyzes Survey of Consumer Finances (Short Analysis)

FEBRUARY 22 | A Shortage of Skilled Workers? Maybe Not... (Snapshot)

FEBRUARY 17 | Gulf Grows Between Minimum Wage and Average Workers (Snapshot)

FEBRUARY 16 | Bush's Tax and Budget Policies Fail to Promote Economic Growth (Policy Memo)

FEBRUARY 16 | Report Shows Effectiveness of Living Wage Policies (Briefing Paper)

FEBRUARY 15 | The Rise of Immigrant Worker Centers (Book)

FEBRUARY 10 | Record High Trade Deficit Driven by Oil Prices (Trade Picture)

FEBRUARY 7 | Making the Budget Real - Compared to What? (Snapshot)

FEBRUARY 3 | Job Market Shows Clear Improvement (Jobs Picture)

JANUARY 31 | Inflationary Pressure Overstated (Issue Brief)

JANUARY 30 | It's Not Just Health Care Squeezing Wages, It's Profits Too (Issue Brief)

JANUARY 27 | GDP - Full Analysis of Last Quarter's Disappointing Growth (GDP Picture)

JANUARY 27 | State of the Economy (Issue Brief and Snapshot)

JANUARY 27 | GDP - Bad News All Around

JANUARY 26 | Income Inequality on the Rise (Report)

JANUARY 25 | Wages Not Rising with Economy (Snapshot)

JANUARY 24 | EPI Founder Decodes the "Party of Davos" (Book)

JANUARY 18 | Hourly Wages Fell 18 of Last 20 Months (Wages Picture)

JANUARY 12 | Wages in the Doldrums (Snapshot)

JANUARY 6 | 2005 Job Growth Mediocre (Jobs Picture)

2005

DECEMBER 21 | Inflation Eats Away Minimum Wage's Value (Snapshot)

DECEMBER 21 | Economy Still Underperforming (Briefing Paper)

DECEMBER 16 | “Hurricane Effect” Felt in Trade Deficit (Current Account Picture)

DECEMBER 15 | No Real Wage Gains Over Recovery (Wage Picture)

DECEMBER 14 | Worker Centers for Immigrants Changing Workplace, Debate (Briefing Paper)

DECEMBER 13 | Will the Fed Continue Hammering Inflation? (Snapshot)

DECEMBER 7 | More Tax Cuts Proposed Despite Deficits (Snapshot)

DECEMBER 2 | Job Growth Can't Match Past Recoveries (Jobs Picture)

NOVEMBER 30 | Trade Deficits Batter Manufacturing Jobs (Snapshot)

NOVEMBER 21 | Colombia Plagued by Poverty, Lack of Job Growth (GPN Report)

NOVEMBER 21 | Of Mortgage Interest Deductions and Equity (Snapshot)

NOVEMBER 9 | Katrina Evacuees Face Very High Unemployment (Snapshot)

NOVEMBER 4 | Katrina Evacuees Hit Hard by Unemployment (Jobs Picture)

NOVEMBER 2 | Average Productivity Declines Among 10 South American Countries (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 28 | Two Analyses, One Message to the Fed (GDP and Wages Pictures)

OCTOBER 26 | Tax Cuts Undercut the Economy (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 26 | Gulf Rebuilding May Worsen Residents' Plight (Viewpoint)

OCTOBER 26 | New Direction Urged at Americas Summit (Issue Brief)

OCTOBER 25 | Tax Cuts Do Much Harm, Little Good (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 21 | Inequality Persists in Brazil, Despite Progress

OCTOBER 20 | New study charts steady erosion of health insurance coverage (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 19 | Senate Proposal Strips Pay, Protections for Millions of Workers

OCTOBER 19 | Budget Cuts Threaten Health Insurance for Children (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 12 | Study finds worker skills gap is unsubstantiated

OCTOBER 12 | Income and Poverty Affect College Completion (Snapshot)

OCTOBER 7 | Assessing Katrina's Impact on Jobs (Jobs Picture)

OCTOBER 6 |Lessons from L.A. for LA, AL, and MS (Briefing Paper)

OCTOBER 5 | Social Security Means Life Insurance for Millions of Kids (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 28 | Gulf families’ recovery at risk (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 23 | Trade deficit improves, but for the wrong reason (Current Account Picture)

SEPTEMBER 21 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget, Deficit Picture Worse Than Bush Projections (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 15 | Reduced Qualifications, Low Pay Among Preschool Teachers

SEPTEMBER 14 | EPI NewsFlash: Pay losses mount from gender gap (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 13 | WSJ Gets Minimum Wage Facts Wrong (Viewpoint)

SEPTEMBER 12 | Alternative to Eliminating the Estate Tax (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 8 | Parsing Estate Tax Fact from Fiction (Snapshot)

SEPTEMBER 2 | What Ails Wages? (Briefing Paper)

SEPTEMBER 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Moderate job growth, but unemployment rate down (Jobs Picture)

SEPTEMBER 1 | The Incredible Shrinking Minimum Wage (Issue Brief)

SEPTEMBER 1 | Report Charts Basic Living Costs In Hundreds Of Areas

AUGUST 31 | EPI NewsFlash: Expanded Analysis of Census Poverty and Income Report for 2004
The Economic Policy Institute’s Income Picture, released today, is an expanded analysis of yesterday’s Census Poverty and Income Report.

AUGUST 24 | EPI NewsFlash: U.S. workers trail Europe in paid vacation days
The average vacation time a U.S. worker gets after 25 years of service — 19 days — doesn't even reach the minimum vacation allotments required by law in at least 18 European countries. In today's Economic Snapshot, EPI economist Sylvia Allegretto examines teh average number of paid vacation days by years on the job in the United States, and the minimum annual paid vacation days from European countries. Allegretto points out that there is no U.S.-mandated vacation time, an important aspect of a worker's quality of life.

AUGUST 16 | EPI Alert: Honey, inflation ate my raise!
A few weeks ago, we learned that hourly wages of blue collar, non-managerial workers, rose 0.4% in July, the fastest monthly growth rate in a year. Today we learned that inflation gobbled up that increase and more, causing both the real hourly and weekly wage to fall slightly in July.

AUGUST 16 | EPI NewsAlert: EPI as Education Resource
Attention education writers and editors: EPI will release two reports for the 2005-2006 school year. The first shows how the recent alarm over supposedly low high school graduation rates is a false one. The second will show how qualifications and pay are dropping for preschool teachers. To read a memo on these and current works, click here.

AUGUST 10 | EPI NewsFlash: China likely to unravel CAFTA textile trade
Passage of the CAFTA trade deal was predicated on promises that it would be good for textile and apparel employment in the United States and Central America. But in today’s Snapshot, Economic Policy Institute researchers Robert Scott and David Ratner show that the promise of more textile jobs is a pipe dream, given the enormous surge in China’s textile exports to the U.S.

AUGUST 5 | EPI NewsFlash: Overall job market expands
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of today’s BLS jobs report shows solid employment gains reaching most industries, as employers appear to be shedding their cautious ways and hiring to meet expanded demand. Today’s Jobs Picture, by EPI economist Jared Bernstein, examines these favorable trends, with the exception of manufacturing, where job losses continue to accumulate. In today’s JobWatch, EPI economist Sylvia Allegretto illustrates the lingering effects on employment in IT-producing industries after the bubble burst in mid-2000. Some IT-related occupations, such as those in computer-related fields, have shown recent signs of improvement, but IT employment is growing slower than overall payrolls.

AUGUST 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Defense Jobs Take Up Labor Market Slack
The economy has roughly a million more jobs now than four years ago, despite the job losses in teh private sector over the same period. Government spending has saved the day by creating more than 2 million jobs over that time period. In today's Snapshot, EPI research director Lee Price estimates that the private sector has 1.2 million fewer non-defense-related jobs than four years ago. He explains that the 2.1 million jobs created by government spending in the last four years has proved invaluable in the labor market progress that has occurred. Perhaps more tellingly, the report demonstrates the profound weakness of private sector job creation for most of the last four years and the capacity of government spending to offset some of that weakness.

AUGUST 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Serious Flaws Found in Offshoring Reports
For the past two years, public concern has grown over a new word in the American lexicon: offshoring. In this climate, three notable research reports have weighed in with a more reassuring story that finds offshoring to be, on balance, a net benefit for the nation. However an analysis of those research findings, Truth and Consequences of Offshoring, published today by the Economic Policy Institute, reports serious flaws in those reassuring stories.

JULY 29 | EPI NewsFlash: GDP fueled by falling trade deficit, weak wage growth continues
A shrinking trade deficit added the largest positive contribution of trade flows to GDP since 1996. In today's GDP Picture, Economic Policy Institute economist Josh Bivens analyzes this morning’s release of BEA's GDP report, which tempers the good news about the shrinking trade deficit with the disheartening news of continued weakness in labor income, particularly private-sector wage and salary growth.

JULY 27 | Single mothers face steeper job market climb
The employment rates of both married parents and single mothers fell in the recession and jobless recovery. But while the married parents' rate has begun to recover over the past year, the rate for single mothers remains distressingly low - signaling an uphill battle in the labor market for tehse economically vulnerable families. In today's Snapshot, EPI senior economist Jared Bernstein shows the steep decline in job opportunities for single mothers, especially compared to their married counterparts. The Snapshot looks at the share of employment for both types of working parents at the first quarter of every year from 2000-2005 to show how the employment rate for single mothers remains depressed.

JULY 26 | EPI NewsFlash: Jordan's Economy Marred by High Unemployment, Trade Deficits
Over the last decade, Jordan's economy has grown considerably once it came out from under state control and became more market-driven. But 12.5 percent unemployment and an escalating trade deficit make the picture lackluster, according to a new report released by the Global Policy Network, and authored by the Center for Strategic Studies - Economic Studies Unit at the University of Jordan. Moreover, female unemployment has remained at a whopping 20 percent, while the 30 percent rate of unionization for workers has remained stagnant since 1999. To read more about Jordan's economic and employment trends, click here for the report.

JULY 21 | EPI NewsFlash: Retirement grows riskier
People near retirement are facing growing uncertainty as employers have switched from traditional defined-benefit pensions to options like 401(k) plans that are subject to the vagaries of the stock market and inflation. While employers have been transferring this greater risk to their employees, they have also been cutting their contributions to employees' retirement savings. A new Economic Policy Institute report by research director Lee Price, Shifting Risk, examines this trend.

JULY 21 | EPINewsFlash: NAFTA's job impact dims CAFTA's bright claims
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect, teh rising trade deficit with Canada and Mexico displaced production supporting over a million jobs in the United States. That disparaging fact about NAFTA's failure to live up to its claim is detailed in NAFTA's Cautionary Tale, by Robert Scott and David Ratner, published today by the Economic Policy Institute. The report gives state-by-state employment figures and rankings.

JULY 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Poor Compared to Previous Cycles
Although there were more payroll jobs in June of this year than in June of last year, the overall growth rate for jobs in this recovery lags behind the previous five post-World War II recoveries of this length. Economic Policy Institute researchers Lee Price and Sujan Vasavada illustrate this comparison in today's Snapshot.

JULY 14 | EPINewsFlash: Social Security proposal cuts deeper for minorities, those without safety net
Bush administration proposals to cut Social Security benefits and create a system of private retirement accounts will have the deepest impact on minorities and households with no life insurance or other retirement accounts. The Economic Policy Institute looks at these two groups in separate reports released today. Two Steps Back, by researchers Ross Eisenbrey and William Spriggs, notes the positive role Social Security currently plans in the retiremenet income of African-American and Latino households, then explains why minorities would lose under "reform" proposals being considered by the administration. The second report, Looking in the wrong places: Why benefit cuts will not solve Social Security's financing problem, by researchers William Spriggs and David Ratner, is an economic snapshot that shows that between 30 and 40 percent of Americans have no private equivalent of the Social Security Old Age and Survivors' Insurance program, meaning that Bush's proposal to cut income replacement rates will leave many households with big income losses they cannot make up.

JULY 8 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs grow, but full-time work lags
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of today’s BLS jobs report looks at two areas in the labor market: analysis of this month’s jobs report in Jobs Picture, and the growth of full-time vs. part-time employment at JobWatch.org.

JULY 7 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush plan cuts survivor benefits
Retirees are one of three groups that Social Security is designed to help, as its formal name makes apparent: Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. Yet, the debate over proposals to overhaul Social Security has been virtually silent on how these changes would affect families of workers who become disabled or die before reaching retirement age. Today’s report, Social Security’s Cruelest Cut, shows that the family of a worker who is now 25 but who will die at age 45 would lose 9.4 percent of their survivor’s benefit (more than $3,000 per year in today’s dollars) under the administrations plan. It also shows that the impact would be even greater for African Americans, who tend to earn less and die younger.

JULY 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Sen. DeMint's no-raid raid
A plan devised by South Carolina’s Senator Jim DeMint, touted as a way to introduce private accounts by “stopping the raid” on the Social Security trust fund, has been gathering support. In today’s Economic Snapshot, researchers Lee Price and David Ratner examine the reality behind the rhetoric. They find that the DeMint proposal actually raids Social Security by diverting money from the trust fund into private accounts for a few years.

JUNE 30 | EPI NewsFlash: Campaign to Help Latin American Workers
As a region, Latin America and the Caribbean feature the world's highest inequality, with the 10% of richest citizens holding up to 47% of the total income. But a step towards equality is being taken with the adoption of the Hemispheric Labor Platform, which calls for reforms, protections and freedoms for the region's workers, and is authored bythe Global Policy Network. The platform has already been officially adopted by the Joint Parliamentary Commission of the Mercosur, a political and trade alliance comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Next comes a review by the unions of the hemisphere, followed by a presentation at a November meeting of the Presidents of the Americas in Argentina. GPN coordinator Tony Avirgan is available to journalists for comments regarding this platform as well as trends in labor markets of this vast region. For interviews, please contact the Communications Department at news@epinet.org .

JUNE 30 | EPI NewsFlash: Major business rankings inaccurate
Business climate indices, which rank states and cities according to how business-friendly they are, claim to offer valuable guidance to businesses seeking a place to locate and policymakers seeking to attract them. But just how reliable are they? "Grading Places," a new book published by the Economic Policy Institute finds that five major business ranking indices do not truly measure economic growth, and instead push an anti-tax political agenda. Read news release and link to book here.

JUNE 30 | EPI NewsFlash: U.S. reliance on foreign investors grows
The value of foreign holdings in the United States now exceeds that of U.S. holdings abroad by $2.5 trillion in 2004, while foreign central banks are financing 75% of our trade deficit. EPI economist Robert Scott analyzes the risks this type of investment carries in today's EPI Economic Snapshot.

JUNE 29 | EPI NewsFlash: Job quality improving
After three and a half hears in which lower-paying industries grew faster than higher-paying ones, the quality of U.S. job growth by industry once again nosed into positive territory during the first quarter of 2005. In today's economic snapshot, EPI economist Elise Gould tracks the pay diferential between expanding and contracting industries since 1991.

JUNE 22 | EPI NewsAlert: Congressional testimony on Social Security's future
Despite assumptions to the contrary, our economy can easily support the rapid increase in the number of retirees in the coming decade, as the total population per worker will grow only 8% over the next 40 years and productivity grows 91%. This is according to testimony - available online - delivered by research director Lee Pride to some members of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.

JUNE 15 | EPI NewsFlash: Raising retirement age no cure
Searching for a magic bullet to make Social Security more solvent, some policymakers have seized on the idea of raising the Social Security retirement age. This seemingly common-sense proposal relies on theories, however, rather than on the facts about when people actually stop working. Economist Elise Gould explores those facts in today’s Economic Snapshot, which maps employment rates by age (25 to 80) and gender.

JUNE 8 | EPI NewsFlash: CAFTA under NAFTA cloud
Supporters of CAFTA argue that it will benefit the agricultural sector, but just how likely are those benefits to materialize? In today's economic snapshot, EPI trade economist Robert Scott examines similar predictions that were made before the passage of NAFTA, and shows why the claims now being made about CAFTA should be taken with a grain of salt.

JUNE 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Where the Jobs Are
It took an unprecedented 50 months, but jobs in the private sector have finally regained their pre-recession levels. But not all industrial sectors are making a comeback. In today's JobWatch, Economic Policy Institute economist Sylvia Allegretto charts which sectors are hot and which are not. Get the full analysis on private sector job growth on the JobWatch.org Web site.

JUNE 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Well Below Expectations
After April's strong showing, May's disappointing job growth suggests that a convincingly strong labor market recovery has yet to take hold. In today's Jobs Picture, Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein tracks the stop-and-go nature of monthly job growth to give insightful analysis of the trends and patterns in this atypical labor market.

JUNE 2 | EPI NewsFlash: For Farming, CAFTA's Claims Are Clouded By NAFTA's Record
Agricultural trade will be a large and contentious aspect of the proposed Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, as its ratification is debated on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) claims the agreement will create "opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and processors." But America's farmers recognize this siren's song from 12 years ago when similar claims were made during the push to pass the trade agreement called NAFTA. Many of those claims proved empty. Just how empty is revealed in a new study, Will CAFTA Be a Boon to Farmers and the Food Industry? released by the Economic Policy Institute.

JUNE 1 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush-endorsed privatization deepens SS cuts
In his push to privatize Social Security, President Bush has endorsed a plan proposed by Robert Pozen — a member of Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security — that would blend the current wage indexing of benefits with price indexing. A crucial point lost so far in the discussion is that the Pozen proposal would lead to substantial and ever-increasing benefit cuts for more than 70 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, including future retirees, widows, and surviving children. Click here to download the report and the accompanying tables of data on benefit cuts.

JUNE 1 | EPI NewsFlash: June 7 Press Roundtable — Chile's Privatized SS and Lessons for the U.S.
Chile has had more than 20 years of experience with the privatization of Social Security, the longest of any country in North and South America. Most Chilean workers and retirees, especially women, are not reaping benefits from private accounts, however, and their plight offers lessons for the United States as it debates privatizing Social Security. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the Global Policy Network (GPN) invite you to a breakfast roundtable at the National Press Club — on Tuesday, June 7, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. — featuring new research from Carmen Espinoza, an attorney, economist and director of Chile’s Program of Economy and Work (PET). To reserve a space, email EPI at news@epinet.org, or call Stephaan Harris at 202-775-8810 by 5:00 p.m., Monday, June 6.

JUNE 1 | EPIdeas: Fresh Perspectives on the Economy
Book an Economic Policy Institute Expert for Your Talk Show. EPI’s economists and policy experts have vast media experience and are ready to explain how economic trends affect working people and their families. For interviews or more information, please contact EPI's communications department at (202) 775-8810 or news@epinet.org.

MAY 26 | EPI Alert: Reaction & response to EPI report on tort law change
The Frivolous Case for Tort Law Change, a recent study published by the Economic Policy Institute, finds there is no credible evidence to link the tort system either to the economic ills its critics claim or to the benefits they argue would be produced by altering it. The study examines reports prepared by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin (TTP), a consulting firm whose clients include many of the world's largest insurance companies. TTP published a short rebuttal, to which EPI has published its own reaction and response available online.

MAY 26 | EPI NewsFlash: Long-Term Unemployment Becomes More Widespread
Three and a half years into this recovery, one in five unemployed Americans has been out of work for six months or more — marking the first time ever that so many jobless have been out of work for so long while the unemployment rate is relatively low and falling. "Rising Stakes of Job Loss: Stubborn Long-term Joblessness Amid Falling Unemployment Rates" shows how this current trend of long-term joblessness is not only worse than previous economic cycles, but more widespread. To read a news release, which contains a link to the report, click here.

MAY 25 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security's Importance in Retirement Wealth
A new EPI report finds that the growth of traditional Social Security — not private pensions, better saving or the stock market — has been the biggest contributor to secure retirement wealth, especially for women and minorities. Retirement Income: The Crucial Role of Social Security, by economists Christian Weller and Edward N. Wolff, finds Social Security has given many households the ability to replace pre-retirement income at least twice the poverty rate.

MAY 17 | EPI News Alert: Case for changing tort laws rests on false evidence, report shows
Pressed to address the nation's stop-and-go job growth, the administration has relied on reports prepared by insurance industry consultants to push for changes in the legal system. Specifically, these changes would affect tort law — the part of the noncriminal legal system that enables individuals who have suffered harm (a tort) because of another's wrongdoing to seek justice in the courts. In "The Frivolous Case for Tort Law Change," economist Lawrence Chimerine and attorney Ross Eisenbrey examine the purported links between the economy and the law from both sides. Read the news release.

MAY 12 | Telecommunications Policy Erodes Job Quality
The telecommunications regulations that were meant to promote competition and progress have, over time, become their greatest barrier. These unintended consequences are documented in Racing to the Bottom: How Antiquated Public Policy Is Destroying the Best Jobs in Telecommunications, a new book released today by the Economic Policy Institute.

MAY 11 | EPI NewsFlash: High Productivity Will Bolster Social Security
President Bush has wrongly declared that Social Security benefits are becoming a burden on working people. A new EPI Issue Brief finds that, although the share of the population in retirement will rise in coming decades, we can maintain a strong Social Security program because productivity will rise even faster and create a higher standard of living.

MAY 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Job growth beats expectations
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a surprisingly upbeat report with 274,000 new payroll jobs added in April. For a full analysis of jobs, unemployment, and wages from today’s BLS report, see EPI economist Jared Bernstein’s Job Picture.

MAY 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Young college grads face weak labor market
Even with today’s report of the creation of 274,000 new payroll jobs in April, young college graduates are preparing to jump into a much weaker job market than in 2000. Economic Policy Institute economist Elise Gould analyzes today’s job market from the viewpoint of a young college graduate on the JobWatch.org website.

MAY 4 | EPI NewsFlash: President’s proposed cuts to Social Security explained
Last week the president endorsed a proposal to bring about substantial cuts in promised Social Security benefits for most workers through partial price indexing. Today’s economic Snapshot, by research director Lee Price and deputy director of policy Amy Chasanov, graphically shows how this proposed scheme collapses from a public pension plan for all workers to an anti-poverty plan.

MAY 3 | EPI Alert: Resources for Mother’s Day Reporting
As you write your stories themed to Mother’s Day, it’s important to remember that as of 2003 (the 2004 data are not yet out) 71.1 percent of mothers of children 18 and under were in the workforce. Here is a quick list of relevant reports and analyses that have been posted to our website since last Mother’s Day.

APRIL 29 | EPI News Alert: Employment Cost Index shows wages stuck in cellar
Today’s release of the Employment Cost Index shows that wage growth remains stuck at its slowest rate on record as a persistently slack job market, and faster inflation continues to squeeze workers’ paychecks. Click here for analysis.

APRIL 28 | EPI NewsFlash: Slow Growth in GDP and Wages
The sharp decline in the growth rate of the gross domestic product is mirrored in listless wage and salary growth. See the analysis in today’s GDP Picture.

APRIL 26 | Labor market trends, more than longevity increase, drive Social Security gap
Two striking economic trends that contribute to the widening Social Security financing gap are sluggish wage growth and the rising wage inequality that has made a larger share of the highest earners’ wages untaxed for Social Security purposes. This is the major finding of a new report, Social Security’s Fixable Financing Issues by economist Josh Bivens.

APRIL 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Consumer Prices Outpace Wages Again
Today's release of the consumer price index (CPI) data for March confirms that real wages continue to deteriorate for many U.S. workers, according to analysis by senior economist Jared Bernstein at the Economic Policy Institute. The inflation-adjusted hourly wage of the 80 percent of the workforce in blue-collar and non-managerial jobs fell 0.5 percent over the past year, (from March 2004 and March 2005). This marks the 11th consecutive month wherein annual wage growth failed to outpace inflation. Click here for the EPI Snapshot.

APRIL 15 | EPI NewsFlash: Charter School "Advantage" Non-existent
A new EPI report explains how a widely-cited study by Harvard researcher Carolyn Hoxby - which found that charter schools perform better than traditional public schools - reached erroneous conclusions because she failed to factor in key socioeconomic differences between charters and traditional public schools. The EPI study by Joydeep Roy and Larry Mishel properly weighs the factors of poverty and race and finds the charter school advantage all but evaporates.

APRIL 14 | EPI NewsFlash: Unemployment Insurance Recipients More Likely to Have Health Benefits in Next Job
Unemployment insurance (UI) provides a basic safety net for workers who suffer periods of involuntary job loss and buys time for workers to find a good job fit. In Finding the Better Fit, a report released today by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research, co-authors Jeffrey Wenger and Heather Boushey are the first to examine whether workers who receive unemployment insurance increase their likelihood of employer-sponsored health insurance in their new job.

APRIL 13, 2005 | EPI NewsFlash: Mapping missing tax dollars
While the federal tax season is winding down, new Internal Revenue Service data show that the federal tax evasion season just keeps gathering momentum. In todays Economic Policy Institute snapshot, economist Max Sawicky breaks down the annual $353 billion tax gap into its component parts.

APRIL 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Tax enforcement in crisis
If taxpayers run true to form this week, the combined total they pay in taxes will be significantly less than what they actually owe. Most taxpayers are honest, but they are carrying a significant burden for those who do not pay all they owe. Two new reports released by the Economic Policy Institute at a news forum at the National Press Club today offer details on this story.

APRIL 6 | EPI Advisory: Tax Enforcement in Crisis - News Forum April 12
If taxpayers run true to form next week, the combined total they pay in taxes will be significantly less than what they actually owe. The majority of honest taxpayers are carrying a significant burden for those who are not paying their full share. The Economic Policy Institute will convene a panel of experts, including former IRS Commissioners, to examine this problem and possible solutions at a tax week news forum. Two new reports will be released at the forum, which is open to the media and others interested in issues of taxation and budget. Click here for a list of speakers.

APRIL 6 | EPI NewsFlash: African-Americans Lose Traction In Labor Market
In this Snapshot, senior economist Jared Bernstein shows that African-American workers still struggle in the job market even though the jobless recovery is solidly behind us. He compares current conditions and those of the early 1990s recovery to gauge the workers' fortunes.

APRIL 6 | EPI NewsFlash: Israel's Economic Gains Benefit Top Earners
The Israeli economy has seen both recession and high growth over the last decade and a half, but one thing is constant: only the very top earners have made gains in employment, wages and share of wealth. A new Global Policy Network report details Israel's labor market transitions and shows who has benefited from economic booms.

APRIL 1 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs Up, But Only Half as Much as Expected
Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein measures the strength of the economic recovery as indicated by job growth, unemployment, and wages. In today's Jobs Picture, Bernstein points out that while the recession started exactly four years ago last month, private-sector payrolls remain 389,000 below their pre-recession level, an historically unprecedented example of weak employment growth.

MARCH 31 | EPI NewsFlash: How Do Charter Schools Measure Up?
A new study by EPI and Teachers College Press provides a comprehensive look at the achievement and enrollment of charter schools. "The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement" challenges many claims made by charter school proponents, finding, for example, that charter schools do not serve a disproportionately high number of economically disadvantaged students. Click here for more.

MARCH 24 | EPI NewsFlash: Majority of Elderly Recipients Rely on Social Security for Most of Their Income
Nationally, median elderly Social Security recipients, age 65 and over, rely on Social Security for two-thirds of their income, according to a new study released today by the Economic Policy Institute. The study shows the degree to which elderly recipients rely on Social Security, broken down by state, race, and sex. Click here for news release and list of state-level research organizations for information on Social Security reliance in specific states. To view report, click link at top of news release.

MARCH 23 | EPI NewsFlash: Putting Social Security Trustees report in context
The annual report released today by the Social Security Trustees predicts that starting in 2017 the program will need to supplement trust fund cash receipts with general revenues in order to pay promised benefits, a 'problem' seized on by administration officials to buttress their case for major changes to the program. However, economist Max Sawicky shows, in today's Economic Snapshot, that the Social Security 'problem' pales beside the overall budget deficits created largely by the administration's tax cuts.

MARCH 16 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush budget threatens those over 55
To build support for its Social Security plan, the administration has argued that the program is moving toward a crisis in 2018 (when benefit payments are expected to exceed revenues), but that everyone over age 55 can rest assured that they have nothing to worry about. Today's Economic Snapshot, by Research Director Lee Price, shows that over the years the Social Security Trust Fund has, in fact, switched back and forth between surplus and deficit and often much deeper deficits than the one forecast for 2018.

MARCH 16 | EPI NewsFlash: U.S. deficit increasingly financed by foreign governments
The U.S. trade deficit, which reached an all-time high of $666 billion in 2004, is increasingly being propped up by investments from foreign governments, according to a new Economic Snapshot by the Economic Policy Institute.

MARCH 16 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush budget undermines Social Security, Medicare
As President Bush crisscrosses the country seeking to reassure seniors that their Social Security benefits are safe, the administration's budget, which is analyzed in a new EPI report tells a different story. The president's proposals would make it all but inevitable that the president's promise cannot be kept for workers 55 and older, not even for current retirees, according to Collision Course: The Bush Budget and Social Security, by tax and budget expert Max B. Sawicky.

News conference call at 1 pm Eastern time. Contact us at news@epinet.org for access numbers.
Click here for news release. To view embargoed report, click link at top of news release.

MARCH 9 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security Cap, Boon for Top Earners
Most earners around the country make less than the $90,000 earnings cap on Social Security taxes. Meaning that roughly 94 percent of Americans over the last 22 years have paid the tax on 100 percent of their earnings to receive the maximum benefits. Economic Policy Institute senior fellow, William Spriggs, illustrates in today's Economic Snapshot that the remaining six percent who earn over $90,000 are taxed at an ever lower rate the higher their earnings go.

FEBRUARY 28 | Private accounts are to Social Security as Walkman is to ... ?
The current policy debate over the future of Social Security makes a common but false assumption: that Social Security is essentially a retirement savings plan. In todays Economic Policy Institute snapshot, senior fellow Bill Spriggs offers details on the overlooked other half who are counting on Social Securitys essential features for families. He likens privatizing Social Security to replacing a multi-functional iPod with a stripped-down Walkman.

FEBRUARY 24 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security and the States
Nationwide, over 47 million people currently receive some kind of Social Security benefit. But what impact would proposed changes in Social Security have in different states? EPI has done a state-by-state ranking and compiled data on individual states.

FEBRUARY 17 | EPI NewsFlash: Removing the Social Security Cap
In this Snapshot, EPI economist Josh Bivens examines the impact that eliminating the current $90,000 salary cap on both Social Security wages and benefits would have on the anticipated Social Security shortfall.

FEBRUARY 17 | EPI NewsAlert: Labor Challenges in Australia
As labor market reforms are carried out in Australia, people there now work the longest hours in the developed world, while 25% of workers have casual jobs without sick leave or vacation. Read more in the Global Policy Network's latest report.

FEBRUARY 10 | EPI NewsFlash: Trade Deficit at all-time high
Driven largely by a surge in high-tech and other manufactured imports from China, and helped along by higher oil prices, the U.S. trade deficit reached $616.2 billion in 2004, breaking all previous records. New Commerce Department data released today show that imports exceeded exports by 54% last year, with imports totaling $1.764 trillion versus $1.146 trillion in exports. Read todays trade picture.

FEBRUARY 9 | EPI NewsFlash: Impact of re-indexing Social Security
The Bush administration has spoken positively about a proposal to change the way Social Security benefits are calculated, going from wage-indexing to price-indexing. Todays Economic Policy Institute Snapshot looks at the effects of such a change.

FEBRUARY 4 | EPI NewsFlash: Longest stretch to regain lost jobs
In the State of the Union Address this week, the president boasted that 2.3 million new jobs were created in 2004. But todays employment data show that growth remains well behind the usual pace. In todays Jobs Picture, Economic Policy Institute senior economist Jared Bernstein compares job growth rates in previous recoveries and finds that, on average, it has taken 21 months to surpass the prior employment peak after a recession. In this case it took 46 months, making this the longest slump of this type on record.

FEBRUARY 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Private accounts compound gender gap
Proposals to shift Social Security from its current structure to a partially privatized system will create a special disadvantage for women, who are still paid less than equally educated males. Thats because women typically spend more time in their 20s out of the workforce, often because they are attending school or are having and raising children. In todays Economic Policy Institute Snapshot, economist Bill Spriggs, with research assistant David Ratner, examines the motherhood penalty under private accounts.

FEBRUARY 2 | EPI NewsFlash: Issue Guide Clarifies Impact of Social Security Privatization
Just in time to answer all the important questions that will be raised during tonights State of the Union message, the Economic Policy Institute has expanded its Social Security Issue Guide with new information in a question and answer format specifically about privatization. The presidents speech is expected to give details about the administrations plans for the program. The Basic Facts about Social Security Privatization and its Impact addresses the impact of one proposal by the Presidents Commission to Strengthen Social Security known as Plan 2.

JANUARY 28 | EPI NewsFlash- GDP to Trade Deficit: What a drag!
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. In todays illustrated GDP Picture, Economic Policy Institute economist Josh Bivens looks at the traits that distinguished the economy for the entire year.

JANUARY 26 | EPI NewsFlash: Private accounts no answer for young workers
Replacing part of Social Security payments with private accounts would leave todays young generation of workers farther behind in retirement than if nothing was done to head off an anticipated shortfall in funding, which has been predicted to occur right around the time theyre hitting retirement age. In todays Economic Policy Institute Snapshot, economist Josh Bivens examines the impact of partial privatization of Social Security on todays 25- to 35-year-old workers.

JANUARY 25 | EPI NewsFlash: Bush Tax Cuts Fail States
With todays release of data on state-level jobs created last month, it is now possible to assess the full impact of the Bush Administrations Jobs and Growth tax cut on states. The plan failed in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The administration fell 3.1 million jobs short of the 5.5 million jobs they projected would be generated nationally over the last 18 months due to the tax cut. JobWatch has monitored that projection against the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly national and state-level job reports to clearly measure the effectiveness of the tax cut.

JANUARY 24 | EPI-FYI: Which EPI is which?
Whats in a name? A world of difference if the names in question are the ECONOMIC Policy Institute and the EMPLOYMENT Policies Institute, both known as EPI. We (the original EPI) believe that higher minimum wages and better working conditions are sound economic policy because thats what the research data show. They (EPI#2) actually try to make a case that it hurts minimum-wage workers to raise their pay. Theres a huge difference between the two institutes, and just to help you keep it straight, heres a helpful hint: Think of them not as the EmployMENT Policies Institute, but as the EmployERS Policies Institute, and its easy to remember.

JANUARY 19 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobless Recovery Becomes Wageless Recovery
In 2004, unemployment fell. But here's the bad news: Wage growth fell, too - at a record rate. The labor market remained slack as inflation accelerated while wages grew more slowly. This week's Snapshot shows how any real income growth many working families achieved last year was a function of more work at lower hourly wages, not real wage growth.

JANUARY 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Trade Deficit Hurts Labor Market in All States
New trade data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau show that the overall U.S. trade deficit continued to climb, hitting another all-time high of $60.3 billion. China accounts for nearly one-quarter of the total U.S. trade deficit, and cost the United States 1.5 million jobs since 1989 that it would have had if trade between the two nations had remained better balanced. That deep trade deficit with China is the focus of a new release today by the Economic Policy Institute which charts, state-by-state and industry-by-industry, its impact on the labor market in every state and the District of Columbia.

JANUARY 12 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security Proposal Cuts Income Replacement
A key proposal by President Bush's commission on Social Security would cause Social Security benefits to erode over time and result in larger income declines for retirees, the disabled, and survivors, hurting low- and middle-income families. Read the EPI Snapshot.

JANUARY 7 | EPI NewsFlash: Jobs Growth-Year in Review
December saw 157,000 new payroll jobs, closing out the year with job growth in every month for the first time since 1999. Economic Policy Institutes Jared Bernstein puts the years job growth in historical perspective in todays Jobs Picture.

JANUARY 7 | EPI NewsFlash: 3.1 Million Jobs Short of Prediction
With todays release of the 157,000 payroll jobs created last month, it is now possible to assess that the Bush administrations jobs and growth tax cut fell 3.1 million jobs short of the 5.1 million jobs the administration projected would be generated over the last 18 months. Visit JobWatch for EPIs full and final analysis.

JANUARY 6 | EPI Advisory: Grading the Tax Cut
Tomorrow morning the Economic Policy Institutes JobWatch will tally the final score on how the jobs and growth tax cut measured up to the administrations own projections.

JANUARY 5 | EPI NewsFlash: Gender Wage Gap Shrinks As Men's Earnings Slow
By late 2004, the gender gap in wages shrunk as the female median earnings jumped to 81% of male earnings, from 76% in the late 1990s. But that's because male median earnings, after rising consistently over the latter 1990s, have since flattened. Read more in this EPI Snapshot.

JANUARY 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Online Social Security Issue Guide Updated
Visit the Economic Policy Institutes updated Social Security Issue Guide, now posted with the most current data. In January, we will further update the guide with frequently asked questions (FAQs) on Social Security Privatization.

2004

DECEMBER 22 | EPI NewsFlash: Private accounts put deep retirement income cuts on menu
The administrations proposal to divert funds from Social Security to private retirement savings accounts will serve up an ever shrinking portion for U.S. retirees, according to projections by both the Presidents commission on Social Security and Goldman Sachs. Read EPI analysis of both projections in this weeks EPI Snapshot.

DECEMBER 21 | EPI NewsFlash: States Still Bear Jobs Deficit
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of todays state-level jobs report by the BLS, shows 29 states still have fewer jobs, and 39 states have higher unemployment rates, than before the beginning of the recession in March of 2001. For maps and tables that show comparisons of job creation and loss between states, click here .

DECEMBER 17 | EPI NewsFlash: No Job Gains After 3 Years.
Our economic recovery is officially three years old, but it's all pain, no gain. Hourly earnings, adjusted for inflation, are about the same level now as they were when the recession ended in November 2001. Read the EPI Snapshot about the lack of wage growth during the economic recovery.

DECEMBER 14 | EPI NewsAlert: Trouble Ahead as Foreign Borrowing Surges
Foreign debt may reach 64% of GDP in the next ten years. EPI's new Issue Brief gives crucial context to the upcoming announcement of third-quarter current account figures. To read the news release, click here. To read the report, click here.

DECEMBER 13 | EPI ADVISORY: News Briefing Critique of Economic Summit
News Briefing Conference Call Tuesday, December 14 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Before the Bush administration holds its Economic Summit on Wednesday, December 15 and Thursday, December 16, economists at the Economic Policy Institute, The Brookings Institution, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, will brief reporters on Social Security and other, more urgent economic issues. To reserve a place on the call contact the EPI Communications Department at 202-775-8810 or e-mail news@epinet.org.

DECEMBER 13 | EPI NewsAlert: New Education Experts To Cover Many Issues
EPI has hired two education experts - senior economist Eileen Foley and economist Joydeep Roy - to research many topics, including school reform, charter schools and teacher certification and pay. Click here for more details.

DECEMBER 8 | EPI NewsFlash: Deficit Reduction Doubtful
The federal budget deficit level is currently 3.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), or $413 billion. In February, the Bush administration set a goal of reducing the federal budget deficit to 1.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in five years, by fiscal year 2009. Todays SNAPSHOT, examines how likely that goal is to be met, given current policies and trends.

DECEMBER 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Fewer November Jobs Than Expected
November's gain of 112,000 payroll jobs proved to be the lowest monthly jobs gain since July. Coupled with the fact that average hours per week declined slightly and wage growth was flat, EPI's JOBS PICTURE shows how last month's growth is insufficient to erase the jobs deficit and existing labor slack.

DECEMBER 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Lower Than Expected
November's payroll job growth of 112,000 fell below the 150,000 needed to keep up with growth in the working age population. The latest wage gain -- just $0.01 -- also fell far short of recent increases in inflation. JobWatch explores how weak the job market is looking.

DEC 1 EPI NewsFlash: States, Not Feds, Take Lead On Minimum Wage
The president and Congress have failed to raise the hourly minimum wage of $5.15 since 1997, but 13 states stepped in to enact wage minimums higher than the federal level, with several others poised to do the same. This EPI Snapshot traces the value of the minimum wage since 1979 and looks at the history of how states have acted in response to federal inaction.

NOVEMBER 19 | EPI NewsAlert: What Now For Argentina's Economy?
Argentina has defied the International Monetary Fund to go its own course, bringing strong increases in employment and GDP. But it struggles with growing inequality and the need of more and better jobs. Click here for an audio clip of a Nov. 17 roundtable and the latest report and a Power Presentation on a look at Argentina's economy and politics.

NOVEMBER 19 | EPI NewsFlash: States slowly pull out of deep jobs hole
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of todays state-level jobs report by the BLS, shows 30 states still have fewer jobs than before the beginning of the recession in March of 2001. For more on today's data on unemployment and job growth by state, go to JobWatch.org.

NOVEMBER 18 | EPI NewsFlash: Social Security well named
Its no surprise that income drops after 65. Only a lucky 15% of senior households have income greater than $50,000, while 61% have to make do on $25,000 or less, and more than one in five have $10,000 or less coming in. In todays Snapshot, economist Josh Bivens lays out the fundamental data showing why it is impossible to overstate the importance of Social Security for U.S. seniors.

NOVEMBER 10 | EPI NewsFlash: Disturbing Development in Long-Term Unemployment
There is a growing disconnect between the national unemployment rate and the share of long-term unemployed (those unemployed more than 39 weeks). Todays Snapshot by the Economic Policy Institute shows a disturbing development the current national unemployment rate of 5.5 percent masks the particularly high share of long-term unemployment, 14.5 percent or 1,200,000 workers.

NOVEMBER 10 | EPI NewsFlash: Breakfast Roundtable on Argentina's Future
Argentina seems to be rebounding from its recent economic meltdown with growth in employment and GDP. But inequality is high and more and better jobs are still needed. Can this country avert another crisis? The answers will be explored at a press breakfast roundtable, starting at 9:30, Nov. 17, Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. For details and to RSVP, e-mail us.

NOVEMBER 5 | EPI NewsFlash: Optimism & Caution as Jobs Rise
The nations payrolls expanded sharply in October, up 337,000, according to todays report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making this the strongest month for job growth since last March. Economic Policy Institutes economist Jared Bernstein cautions that one month does not a new trend make in todays Jobs Picture.

NOVEMBER 5 | EPI NewsFlash: Healthy Job Growth, Missing Labor Force May Be Returning
Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute of todays jobs report indicates strong employment growth, as 337,000 payroll jobs were added in October and employment growth in the prior two months was revised upwards by 113,000. The labor force resumed growth after falling for two months, while the unemployment rate edged up. This is likely because the missing labor force (those who have dropped out due to weak job growth) are returning to the labor market.

NOVEMBER 3 | EPI NewsFlash: Spending Trumps Savings for Most Americans
Consumption at the Expense of Savings Consumption now takes a record high 88.8% of Americans' pre-tax income. Meanwhile, saving has shrunk to a record low 0.4% of income - the lowest rate since the Great Depression. Click here for this week's Snapshot on Americans' reduced savings and climbing debt

OCTOBER 29 EPI NewsFlash: Debt drives growth, wages fall short
Two new government reports out today show the current expansion is driven by rising debt, not wage growth. These reports are examined in two Economic Policy Institute analyses that will be available online today: GDP Picture. Economic Snapshot.

OCTOBER 27 EPI NewsFlash: Female Employment Rates Decrease, Reversing Trend
Economic Policy Institute economist Sylvia Allegretto finds employment rates (the ratio of employment to population) for females decreased by 1.7 percentage-points since the last business cycle peak in March 2001. At this point in every past cycle since 1948, female employment rates have gone up. Allegretto illustrates this substantial decrease and reversal of historic upward trends with two graphs in todays economic Snapshot.

OCTOBER 25 | EPI NewsFlash: Two Jobs Surveys, Same Sad Story
Countering the recent arguments that the household survey provides a markedly prettier picture than the payroll survey, the Economic Policy Institute has updated the May 2004 analysis of the Cleveland Federal Reserve study, Employment Surveys Are Telling the Same (Sad) Story. In todays Snapshot, EPI research director Lee Price finds that with the most recent data, the story illustrated by the two surveys, one payroll and the other household, remains sad.

OCTOBER 21 | EPI NewsFlash: New Report Maps Middle-Class Squeeze
From 2000 to 2003, typical middle-income families lost ground before taxes, after taxes, and especially after taxes and health care expenditures. A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institutes Lawrence Mishel, Michael Ettlinger, and Elise Gould examines income trends for four kinds of families: married couples with children; single mothers; elderly couples 65 and older; and young singles age 25-34.

OCTOBER 20 | EPI NewsFlash: Health care: US Spends More, Gets Less
Today's Snapshot from the Economic Policy Institute compares the United States to 29 of the world's other industrialized nations to illustrate the relationship between health spending and life expectancy.

OCTOBER 15 | EPI NewsFlash: Minimum Wage Hike Supported by Nobel Economists
Wednesday nights presidential debate brought the issue of a long overdue increase in the minimum wage back into the national spotlight. Last week, in a signed statement released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 562 economists, including four Nobel Prize winners in economics, agreed that this is an important national issue that deserves more attention than its gotten recently.

OCTOBER 14 EPI NewsFlash: Early Childhood Education Lifts Economy
Investment in early childhood development pays off - literally. A new Economic Policy Institute report shows how education programs for 3 and 4 year old children ultimately provide many financial benefits to local governments and taxpayers, including higher earnings and reduced crime and poverty. Click here to read the release.

OCTOBER 13 | EPI NewsFlash: Budget Reality Check
The goal of balancing the budget in 10 years implies an utterly untenable fiscal policy that would require discretionary spending outside of defense and homeland security to be cut by nearly 90% in inflation-adjusted, per capita terms. Todays Economic Snapshot by Economic Policy Institute economist Max B. Sawicky illustrates the harsh realities in balancing the budget.

October 13 | EPI NewsFlash: The Federal Budget's Looming Crisis
A new EPI report shows how the federal budget is being destabilized by an explosive concoction of huge tax cuts, unmanageable deficits, and fiscal policy that ignores the rules of arithmetic. The Budget Arithmetic Test, written by research director Lee Price and economist Max Sawicky, examines the policies that led us down this path and discusses recommendations for a more sound budget.

OCTOBER 8 | EPI NewsFlash: Job Growth Weak by Any Standard, Conf Call Today
Todays announcement of the creation of 96,000 jobs in September falls far short of any reasonable benchmark for evaluating employment growth, according to the Economic Policy Institute. To judge economic performance such as jobs, inflation or GDP, we must establish appropriate yardsticks and benchmarks. Check EPIs JobWatch.org web site.

OCTOBER 8 | EPI Report Reveals Weakening Growth
Analysis of todays jobs report by economist Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute confirms that although the jobless recovery is over, we have yet to reach a level of employment growth that will absorb the slack remaining in the job market. In fact, Septembers payroll gains of 96,000 appear to be part of a new, diminished rate of job growth that began a few months ago and stands in contrast to the stronger growth rate earlier in the year. See EPIs