SEPTEMBER 2003

EPI launches JobWatch.org
On September 5, EPI posted its first installment of JobWatch, a new initiative designed to clearly track current trends in the U.S. labor market, offering up-to-date analysis of national and state data. The August Bureau of Labor Statistics data provided the first opportunity to measure the job creation resulting from the Bush Administration's "Jobs and Growth Plan" tax cuts. In the first month, 93,000 jobs were lost and the plan fell 437,000 jobs short of its job growth projections. Go to JobWatch.org for the full analysis and to sign up for the October 3 e-mail bulletin.

Understanding teacher quality
Teacher quality is the single most important school-related factor influencing student success. In Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effects of Teacher Attributes, EPI research associate Jennifer King Rice examines the body of research on the subject of teacher quality to draw conclusions about which attributes makes teachers most effective, with a focus on aspects of teacher quality that can be translated into policy recommendations and incorporated into teaching practice. The executive summary, introduction, and a transcript of the EPI-hosted conference call that centered on the report are available online.

New research director and two labor economists join EPI staff
EPI welcomes the addition of Research Director Lee Price. Price was formerly the chief economist for the Senate Budget Committee and has also served as deputy undersecretary and chief economist for the Economics and Statistics Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He will oversee EPI's research agenda and conduct his own research on unemployment, trade, pensions, wages, and outsourcing. Also joining EPI's staff is economist Elise Gould, a graduate of the Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to working on labor market trends, she will also study health-related economic issues. Economist Sylvia Allegretto joined EPI in September after completing the Ph.D. program in economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She will focus on labor market developments and education research.

Mending manufacturing
The current manufacturing crisis is largely a result of the rising trade deficit and the dollar's inflated value. Mending Manufacturing, a Briefing Paper co-authored by EPI economists Josh Bivens, Christian Weller, and Rob Scott, examines the policies that led to the decline of U.S. manufacturing and offers solutions for reviving the manufacturing sector. Read the full report online.

Poverty rises, middle-class incomes fall for the second year running
In 2002, poverty deepened and middle-class household incomes fell for the second consecutive year, according to the September income report from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The poverty rate rose to 12.1% in 2002 from 11.7% in 2001, adding 1.7 million to the ranks of the poor. The number of poor grew to 34.6 million people last year, including 12.1 million children. A complete analysis of the Income Picture can be found on the EPI Web site.

EPI publications receive recognition
Some recent EPI publications have been selected for economic awards and recognition, including:

• EPI research associate Ed Wolff's book Retirement Insecurity was selected by Princeton University as one of the Noteworthy Books in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics for 2002.
  
• How Much is Enough? Basic Family Budgets for Working Families by EPI economist Jared Bernstein and EPI research associates Chauna Brocht and Maggie Spade-Aguilar appeared in the Publications of Note column of the Summer 2003 issue of the National Center for Children in Poverty newsletter.

• Findings from the September 5 JobWatch were reported in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday and a host of other papers through the Associated Press, Knight Ridder News Service, and Cox News Service. JobWatch was also picked up internationally by London's Guardian and Financial Times and distributed by Agence France Presse.
  
  
• The New York Times featured EPI's Labor Day study, Labor Market Left Behind, on its front page. EPI President and co-author Larry Mishel was quoted as saying, "What's unique about the economy today is that even though the recession started in March 2001 and ended apparently in November 2001, here we are in August-September of 2003, and we have far fewer jobs than when we started this whole process. That has never happened since the Great Depression." EPI's Labor Day release was also covered by CNN's Wolf Blitzer program and on Lou Dobbs' Moneyline, as well as by The Washington Post.
  
  
• EPI board member Julianne Malveaux's op-ed quoting EPI data on the jobless recovery appeared in USA Today.
  
  
• EPI conducted a media conference call on September 3 to brief reporters on the changes to overtime regulations that were up for congressional vote. The Associated Press, The Baltimore Sun, and The Boston Herald were among the news organizations that reported on the conference call.
  
  
• When the U.S. Census Bureau released its poverty and income statistics on September 26, The New York Times ran EPI economist Jared Bernstein's op-ed on how the Census Bureau numbers don't measure the full extent of poverty in the United States because the current definition of poverty doesn't provide a truly accurate economic picture. The Washington Post quoted Bernstein on its front page, and the Wall Street Journal also cited Bernstein's analysis.
  
  
• The Houston Chronicle carried EPI Research Director Lee Price's opinion piece that contested the assumption that the September 11 attack is a major contributor to the current U.S. economic slump.
  

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