October 6, 2009
Research shows that creating more "green jobs" would have a significant benefit on male African American workers whose unemployment rate is well above the overall nationwide rate. Algernon Austin, director of EPI's Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, presented some of these findings Sept. 25 at the annual legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus.
October 2, 2009
A new report by EPI Research and Policy Director John Irons looks at how recessions can cause long-lasting damage to individuals and the economy, and how a temporary boost in federal spending can help stem the damage to the economy and future generations. Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman cited Irons' paper in his October 2 column, "Mission Not Accomplished," where he wrote, "Unless the government does much more than is currently planned to help the economy recover, the job market ... will remain terrible for years to come."
October 1, 2009
A well-designed climate change policy can support the economic recovery and ensure that U.S. manufacturing comes back stronger and cleaner than before. Poorly designed policies, however, could slow or halt the recovery of significant segments of U.S. manufacturing and could even lead to increased global production of greenhouse gases. One of the keys to achieving these goals is to include a border adjustment mechanism to help stem carbon leakage.
October 1, 2009
The second volume in EPI's Series on Alternative Teacher Compensation Systems, Redesigning Teacher Pay provides a simple framework for designing and evaluating performance pay plans for teachers. This new book offers four case studies of performance pay in action and proposes a simple, yet powerful plan for reforming compensation for the next generation of teachers.
September 25, 2009
In August of this year, the U.S. unemployment rate reached 8.9%. But all the way back in December of 2007, in the very first month of the current recession, the African American unemployment rate was already at 8.9%. During a September 23 statement for the record before Congress, Algernon Austin, director of EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, discussed how minority communities suffer from high unemployment even in good times, and outlined the policies needed to address the long-term economic needs of these communities.
September 10, 2009
EPI analyzes the latest findings on income, poverty, and health insurance in its Income/Poverty Picture and Health Picture.
September 9, 2009
There are now six job seekers for each available job in the United States.
September 4, 2009
The August employment report shows that the labor market is continuing to deteriorate, but thanks to the Recovery Act, at a much slower rate than earlier in the year. READ MORE
September 4, 2009
Many workers who have not lost their jobs during the recession have lost wages. Wage growth slowed dramatically in recent months and many employers are cutting hours, threatening to further limit consumer consumption and delay an economic recovery. READ MORE
September 4, 2009
The latest statistics on unemployment, underemployment, worker productivity, health care coverage, and job and retirement security. READ MORE
September 4, 2009
A new Policy Memo responds to a recent study on teacher pensions and takes a closer look at why current benefit formulas are structured the way they are.
August 20, 2009
Stimulus spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been a very small factor in the expansion of the federal budget deficit in 2009. Many policies that pre-date the Obama Administration, including Bush-era spending on the wars in Iran and Afghanistan, are key contributors to the growing deficit.
August 13, 2009
An analysis of how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is creating jobs, restoring confidence and easing the severity of the recession.
August 12, 2009
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for June is unchanged from May -- the first time in over a year that the ratio of job seekers to job openings has not increased.
August 7, 2009
Some 247,000 jobs were lost in July as the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4% from 9.5% in June. The number of long-term unemployed -- who have been out of work for more than six months -- also swelled by 584,000 to 5 million. More than one-third of this country's 14.5 million unemployed workers are now long-term unemployed.
August 7, 2009
Comprehensive health reform proposals now before Congress could help bring health coverage to the more than 13 million uninsured young adults, ages 19 to 29, who currently lack it, a new report finds. For those young adults who now have coverage, the reforms could also help keep them from losing it. READ MORE
August 6, 2009
An essential component of the health care reform debate is providing affordable coverage, through subsidies, to those who cannot afford health insurance. Legislation in Congress would limit the maximum amount families under 400% of the federal poverty line could pay on insurance premiums, but some policy makers would like to reduce that eligibility for subsidies to the point that many middle-income families would have to spend substantial portions -- easily 15% to 20% -- of their household income on health care premiums.
July 31, 2009
Despite big boost from recovery act, economy registers largest year-over-year decline of GDP on record.
July 30, 2009
Two new Issue Briefs survey today's employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) landscape, shed light on disparities in health spending and coverage by industry, and provide a useful primer on how workers and firms will respond to health reforms like those currently on the table in bills introduced in the Senate and House — so-called "play or pay" reform plans.
July 23, 2009
The large U.S. trade deficit in goods has declined sharply thus far in 2009, but one constant remains: China's rising share of the non-oil goods trade deficit.
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