It has not always been this way. Between 1947 and 1979, the period when Keynesian economic theory and policies prevailed, “hourly wages grew 2.2 percent. From 1979 to the present, average growth in hourly wages fell to 0.7 percent per year, only one-third of the average rate in the earlier postwar period” (Economic Policy Institute).
Common Dreams
February 9, 2026
That’s why the price for, say, a pair of jeans has gone up in line with inflationary trends.
“The price of a pair of jeans is mostly labor costs (wages). These wages can’t stay stuck at their 1950 level as inflation and real economic growth occur – if they did stay stuck, workers would leave jean-making and look for work elsewhere,” Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told Marketplace over email.
Marketplace
February 9, 2026
National figures show immigrants are heavily represented in construction work, with roughly one in three workers in construction and extraction jobs born outside the United States. That helps explain why enforcement actions and policy uncertainty flow straight into longer rebuilding timelines, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
Hoodline
February 4, 2026
The bills could shrink Virginia’s public-sector pay gap, which is among the largest in the U.S., according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute; public employees in Virginia make more than 25% less than private-sector workers with similar schooling and backgrounds. The EPI’s report, published in January, found closing the pay gap could also lead to better public services, less turnover and improved racial and gender pay gaps.
WHRO Public Radio (Virginia)
February 4, 2026
Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee advanced a bill to repeal the commonwealth’s ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers on an 8-6 party line vote.
The bill would result in over 500,000 workers getting the right to collectively bargain, including teachers, firefighters, home care workers, and campus workers. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a report last month looking at how this legislation would benefit workers and Virginia more broadly.
“Data show that strong collective bargaining laws help states address persistent public-sector pay gaps, reduce staff vacancies and turnover, and lead to higher unionization rates,” EPI says.
Virginia Dogwood Newsletter
February 4, 2026
According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, roughly 50% of workers ages 50 to 70 hold physically demanding (50.3%) or high-pressure jobs (46.1%). If you’re suffering physically or mentally, claiming benefits at 62 could provide the opportunity you need to focus on your physical and mental health.
Motley Fool
February 4, 2026
But a study from the Economic Policy Institute found that for low-income adults, the main barriers to work are economic conditions outside of their control, and that work requirements in the past have failed to boost work in significant ways.
Prism Reports
February 4, 2026
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank that works “to counter rising inequality, low wages, and weak benefits for working people,” says about 70 percent of workers in the United States between the ages of thirty-two and sixty-six who had incomes above the taxable maximum in 2024 would face more in benefit cuts than they would pay in higher taxes if the cap were scrapped. But the remaining 30 percent, EPI reports, would be better off financially if they took the hit in benefit cuts than they would be if they paid higher taxes.
The Progressive Magazine
February 4, 2026
National figures show immigrants are heavily represented in construction work, with roughly one in three workers in construction and extraction jobs born outside the United States. That helps explain why enforcement actions and policy uncertainty flow straight into longer rebuilding timelines, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
Hoodline
February 4, 2026
The bills could shrink Virginia’s public-sector pay gap, which is among the largest in the U.S., according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute; public employees in Virginia make more than 25% less than private-sector workers with similar schooling and backgrounds. The EPI’s report, published in January, found closing the pay gap could also lead to better public services, less turnover and improved racial and gender pay gaps.
WHRO Public Radio (Virginia)
February 4, 2026