Latest Research

Minorities in the recession

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.

New reports on poverty and health care coverage

September 10, 2009

EPI analyzes the latest findings on income, poverty, and health insurance in its Income/Poverty Picture and Health Picture.

Number of unemployed workers per available job continues to climb

September 9, 2009

There are now six job seekers for each available job in the United States.

Pace of job loss slows, but unemployed not finding work

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

The recession’s hidden costs

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

Labor Day by the Numbers

September 4, 2009

The latest statistics on unemployment, underemployment, worker productivity, health care coverage, and job and retirement security. READ MORE

Do teacher pensions create “peculiar incentives” for retirement?

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.

The 2009 budget deficit: How did we get here?

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.

The recovery package in action

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.

Nearly six unemployed workers per job but ratio does not worsen

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.

Jobs Picture

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.

Health reform could help cover 13 million uninsured young adults

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

Expanded subsidies are essential to health reform

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.

More than 500 days of recession

July 31, 2009

Despite big boost from recovery act, economy registers largest year-over-year decline of GDP on record.

Employers and health reform

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.

China dominates U.S. trade deficit in 2009

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.

Health care reform and small business

July 22, 2009

Two new reports from EPI explain how recently proposed health care reforms stand to benefit small businesses and their workers. EPI Issue Brief #258 explains the many ways in which small business will benefit, and Policy Memo #145 looks specifically at the recently released Tri-Committee bill, favorably comparing it to EPI's own proposal, Health Care for America. [Read press release.]

The job isn’t done: More jobs and family supports needed

July 21, 2009

EPI President Lawrence Mishel explains the current state of the economy and outlines the specific challenges policy makers need to tackle going forward.

EPI’s Minimum Wage Issue Guide updated

July 21, 2009

An accessible overview of minimum wage policy and the impact it has on the economy and workers. This new edition includes data on how many people are affected state-by-state, and tracks the real value of the minimum wage over time.

Unequal unemployment—racial disparities in unemployment vary widely by state

July 15, 2009

The labor market crisis is breaking national records each month, with no end in sight. The heaviest burden is falling on blacks and Hispanics, who are contending with much higher unemployment rates than whites nationally—about one-and-a-half times as high for Hispanics and twice as high for blacks. According to an updated analysis through the second quarter of 2009 and new projections through 2010, the trend has worsened and is likely to continue to do so.

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