Bush Administration's job creation claims
The Issue Brief Missing the Moving Target, released jointly by EPI and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), examines the Bush Administration's unrealistic projections for job growth in 2004. EPI economist Jared Bernstein, EPI Research Director Lee Price, and Isaac Shapiro (a senior fellow at CBPP) explain how the overly optimistic job creation predictions by President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers would result in the addition of 450,000 new jobs each month in 2004—about four times the level of growth in January.

Workers' wages and the economy's recovery
EPI's Issue Brief Weak Recovery Claims New Victim: Workers' Wages, by EPI economist Jared Bernstein and EPI President Lawrence Mishel, analyzes the drop in inflation-adjusted hourly wages for middle- and low-wage men and women, making 2003 the worst year in the past five for wage growth.

Recent op-eds now online
Recent opinion pieces by EPI researchers include EPI fellow Jeff Faux's op-ed on the 10th anniversary of NAFTA and an op-ed co-authored by EPI economist Jared Bernstein and EPI Research Director Lee Price about tax cuts for the wealthy. Visit the Viewpoints section of the EPI Web site to read all opinion pieces by EPI economists and associates.

Weak labor market growth falls short of projections, hurts 2003 wage growth
Although jobs increased by 112,000 in January 2004, the Bush Administration's "Jobs and Growth Plan" still fell 194,000 jobs short of its projection. Furthermore, continued high unemployment and the lack of meaningful job growth made 2003 the worst year for weekly wage growth for the typical worker since 1996. For more details and to download charts and tables, go to JobWatch.org.

• On February 9, the Economic Policy Institute and Representative George Miller co-sponsored a briefing on Capital Hill on jobs and the economy.   The briefing featured EPI President Lawrence Mishel, Research Director Lee Price, and economist Jared Bernstein presenting an analysis of the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report and an assessment of the Bush Administration's job creation policies.
  
  
• On February 11, EPI economist Max Sawicky spoke before the U.S. House Democratic Task Force on Children and Working Families on the subject of how the Bush Administration's budget for fiscal year 2005 will affect working families with children. Read the testimony online.
  
  
• On February 11, EPI President Lawrence Mishel addressed a meeting of Representatives on the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Jobs and the Economy.
  
  
• EPI and Senator Edward Kennedy co-sponsored a briefing on Capitol Hill on February 20 on the topic of jobs and the economy.   The briefing featured EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey, EPI economist Jared Bernstein, and Martha Coven, a Senior Legislative Associate with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.    

Market-based Reforms in Urban Education By Helen F. Ladd In the debate over reforming urban education, the issues surrounding market-based approaches—charter schools, vouchers, public school choice—are complex. Market-based Reforms in Urban Education examines the extensive but disparate evidence to help determine whether these reforms promote the public interest and translate well into the provision of compulsory education.

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