Jobs and Unemployment

Inside Jobs and Unemployment

EPI’s thorough research in this area is as critical as ever and focuses on understanding the intricacies and impact of the slow recovery in the U.S. labor market, including our persistent high unemployment, near-record long-term unemployment, mass underemployment, and weak labor force participation.

December jobs numbers sustain status quo

December jobs numbers sustain status quo

The labor market added 155,000 jobs last month, which is unfortunately right in line with the 153,000 average from the first 11 months of 2012.

On the Blog

June 17, 2013 | Ongoing State Jobs Deficits—Keeping State Employment Gains in Perspective
June 7, 2013 | I see the future
May 31, 2013 | Economic expansion versus economic recovery
May 29, 2013 | Ongoing joblessness: A national catastrophe for African American and Latino workers
May 22, 2013 | In one chart: we have a demand problem, not a skills problem
May 7, 2013 | Sequester cuts to Emergency Unemployment Insurance Compensation will likely cost around 30,000 jobs
May 1, 2013 | 175,000 jobs a month won’t make us whole until 2020
April 30, 2013 | The missing workers: how many are there and who are they?
April 30, 2013 | Why do so many people want to only pursue the expensive ways to fix job-quality?
April 23, 2013 | How far from full labor market recovery are we? Part I
April 8, 2013 | How to stomp on promising developments in the economy: Austerity
March 29, 2013 | Kerry drinks the trade Kool-Aid, but trade agreements do NOT create jobs
March 26, 2013 | Senate Democratic budget overly focused on deficit reduction
March 18, 2013 | House Democratic budget would also boost employment
March 14, 2013 | Is Japan really ready for free trade?

Recent work on Jobs and Unemployment

Unemployed Workers Still Far Outnumber Job Openings in Every Major Sector
June 11, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
Today’s jobs report is crystal-clear evidence that we’re in a slog
June 7, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
The slog continues: At this pace, we’ll have a jobs deficit of 4.6 million in May 2016
June 7, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Quick Takes
Ongoing joblessness
May 21, 2013 | By Mary Gable and Doug Hall | Report
Ongoing disaster evident in too many states
May 17, 2013 | By Doug Hall | Economic Indicators
Ongoing Joblessness in Michigan: Unemployment rate for African Americans tops in nation, more than double the state’s white rate
May 16, 2013 | By Mary Gable and Douglas Hall | Report
Ongoing Joblessness in Texas: African American and Hispanic unemployment rates far exceed the white unemployment rate in the state
May 16, 2013 | By Mary Gable and Douglas Hall | Report
Ongoing Joblessness in Mississippi: Unemployment rate for African Americans ninth in nation, more than double the state’s white rate
May 16, 2013 | By Mary Gable | Report
Ongoing Joblessness in New Mexico: Unemployment rate for Hispanics far exceeds the state’s white rate
May 16, 2013 | By Mary Gable | Report
Ongoing Joblessness in North Carolina: Unemployment rate for African Americans fourth in nation, more than double the state’s white rate
May 16, 2013 | By Mary Gable and Douglas Hall | Report
Job openings and hires fell in March, and there are still 3.1 job seekers for every job opening
May 7, 2013 | By Elise Gould | Economic Indicators
At a time of persistent economic weakness, today’s jobs report represents an ongoing disaster
May 3, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
A jobs report that would be fine in good times represents an ongoing disaster now
May 3, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Quick Takes
State economies navigating troubled waters as federal sequestration takes a toll
April 19, 2013 | By Doug Hall | Economic Indicators
Job openings and hiring increased in February, but there are still 3.1 job seekers for every job opening
April 9, 2013 | By Elise Gould | Economic Indicators
The unemployment rate is hugely underestimating slack in the labor market
April 5, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
State policymakers should avoid adding to austerity imposed by sequestration
March 29, 2013 | By Doug Hall | Economic Indicators
Most states on a positive path, though sequestration’s impact could derail recovery
March 18, 2013 | By Doug Hall | Economic Indicators
Infrastructure investments and Latino and African American job creation
March 14, 2013 | By Algernon Austin | Report
Job openings and hiring increased slightly in January, but there are still 3.3 job-seekers for every job opening
March 12, 2013 | By Elise Gould | Economic Indicators
February caps off three years of job growth, but much more is needed to fill employment deficit
March 8, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
Testimony in support of HB 1204: “Labor and Employment – Maryland Wage and Hour Law – Payment of Wages”
February 27, 2013 | By David Cooper | Testimony
Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, regarding the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
February 14, 2013 | By Ross Eisenbrey | Testimony
From free-fall to stagnation: Five years after the start of the Great Recession, extraordinary policy measures are still needed, but are not forthcoming
February 14, 2013 | By Josh Bivens, Andrew Fieldhouse, and Heidi Shierholz | Report
Job openings and hiring dropped in December, and have not increased since early 2012
February 12, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
Groundhog Day in the labor market
February 1, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic Indicators
Groundhog Day in the labor market
February 1, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Quick Takes
No occupation spared: Unemployment elevated across the board
January 31, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic snapshot
Unemployed far outnumber job openings in every sector
January 23, 2013 | By Heidi Shierholz | Economic snapshot
Status quo not good enough for state economies either
January 18, 2013 | By Doug Hall | Economic Indicators

View Jobs and Unemployment archive →

Advanced search

The Class of 2012: Labor market for young graduates remains grim
May 3, 2012 | By Heidi Shierholz, Natalie Sabadish, and Hilary Wething | Report
The public-sector jobs crisis: Women and African Americans hit hardest by job losses in state and local governments
May 2, 2012 | By David Cooper, Mary Gable, and Algernon Austin | Report
Putting America back to work: Policies for job creation and stronger economic growth
September 2, 2011 | By Josh Bivens, Lawrence Mishel, Ross Eisenbrey, and Andrew Fieldhouse | Report
The future of work: Trends and challenges for low-wage workers
April 27, 2012 | By Rebecca Thiess | Report

Lawrence Mishel

Lawrence Mishel, President

Heidi Shierholz

Heidi Shierholz, Economist

Women’s pay gap looks better because men’s average pay has gotten worse

Over the past three decades, there has been improvement, a narrowing of the gap. As Heidi Shierholz at the Economic Policy Institute points out, the median hourly wage for women in 1979 was 62.7 of the median for men. In 2012, it was 82.8 percent:

Daily Kos | June 18, 2013
The One Chart That Shows Just How Stuck Our Economy Is

The U.S. jobs picture is bleaker than the most recent jobs reports may make you think. The economy added 175,000 jobs last month, but at the rate things are going, it would take almost a decade to get back to prerecession employment levels. A Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics digs in on the bad news: The number of job openings in the U.S. actually fell by 118,000 in April to 3.8 million.

How bad can 3.8 million job openings be? The Economic Policy Institute looks at the number and sees that “the main problem in the labor market is a broad-based lack of demand for workers—and not, as is often claimed, available workers lacking the skills needed for the sectors with job openings.” To bolster this point, they put forward this chart:

National Journal | June 18, 2013
The U.S. job market is still worse than at any point during the 2001 downturn

There’s nothing new or surprising about this chart from the Economic Policy Institute’s Heidi Shierholz. It’s just a reminder that the U.S. labor market is still in very bad shape — despite recent improvements:

The Washington Post | June 18, 2013
Reminder: There Are Still 3 Times More Unemployed Workers Than Job Openings

The Department of Labor released its latest report on job openings yesterday, and while not much changed from last month, it was a reminder that the labor market is still pretty much murder. With more than 11.7 million unemployed Americans still out there, the government estimates that there are 3.8 million jobs to be had — a ratio of 3.1-to-1, as shown on this graph from the Economic Policy Institute.

The Atlantic | June 18, 2013
Getting More Bang for the Buck in Higher Education

For young college graduates the unemployment rate is 8.8 percent, and the underemployment rate, which includes those who have given up looking for a job or who are working part time because they cannot find a full-time job, is about.

The New York Times | June 18, 2013