The continued prevalence of COVID-19 will drag the labor market. A similar effect took hold in the fall when the delta variant wiped out most of the employment gains of the first half of 2021, according to Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Restaurant Dive
January 7, 2022
While farm wages have gradually risen over the past 30 years, farmworkers earned an average wage in 2020 of just $14.62 per hour — a rate roughly 60% that of the average wage earned by comparable workers in industries including construction and retail, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Capital and Main
January 7, 2022
The pandemic and strong economy have given Americans a rare measure of … an economist who is president of the Economic Policy Institute. (paywall).
The USA Today
January 7, 2022
While restaurant and hospitality workers are two of the sectors hit the hardest, Americans are not leaving the workforce altogether, according to Chief Economist at the Economic Policy Institute. The institute notes that the labor market is gaining tons of jobs every month.
azfamily.com
January 7, 2022
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, points out that at the same time, 6.7m people were hired. “People who quit are taking other jobs, not leaving the workforce,” she wrote in a tweet.
The Hustle
January 7, 2022
In an analysis published Thursday, David Cooper, Krista Faries, and Sebastian Martinez Hickey of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) observed that the January 1 wage hikes in 21 states “range from a $0.22 inflation adjustment in Michigan to a $1.50 per hour raise in Virginia, the equivalent of an annual increase ranging from $458 to $3,120 for a full-time, full-year minimum wage worker.”
Common Dreams
January 7, 2022
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said: “Things are looking pretty tight given the available supply of labor that we have right now. But there are millions on the sidelines who will come in, once the labor supply-suppressing effects of Covid are in the rearview mirror.”
The Guardian
January 7, 2022
In Georgia, the average cost of infant care is over $8,500 for the year, while child care for a 4-year-old costs about $7,300, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CBS46
January 7, 2022
Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says the term “low skill” is “offensive” and often inaccurately conflates low pay with low academic requirement.
CNBC
January 7, 2022