As a result, some reliable indicators of the economy have become less reliable. Yes, there has been a solid recovery in hiring yet so many people have stopped working or seeking jobs that the adjusted unemployment rate is closer to 7.3%, instead of 4.6%, said Heidi Shierholz, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute and a former chief economist at the Labor Department.
The Associated Press
November 12, 2021
Josh Bivens, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said he thinks inflation would be lower today if the most recent coronavirus relief bill hadn’t passed. “But I also think we’d have created far fewer jobs over the past year, and people’s wages would be lower — their incomes would be lower.” Bivens added that the generous relief package gave workers the financial cushion and leverage to negotiate higher earnings or switch to better jobs, setting the stage for a massive reassessment of work in America.
Washington Post
November 12, 2021
Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz joined “Bloomberg Markets: Americas” with Guy Johnson and Taylor Riggs to discuss the U.S. October Payrolls number which blew away estimates.
Bloomberg TV
November 12, 2021
Heidi Shierholz and Michael Strain talked about the U.S. economy and President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.
C-SPAN
November 12, 2021
The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute also criticized the study, suggesting that the data and methodology couldn’t distinguish between the effects of wage increases and other factors. It called the estimated job loss “implausibly large and well outside the range of existing research on the minimum wage.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
November 12, 2021
Cites EPI study on CEO pay.
The Intercept
November 12, 2021
While business owners have been a strong focus in discussions of equity, workers can’t be left out, advocates say.
“In the most recent federal proposals, every single one of them has this explicit and worthwhile focus on equity for entrepreneurs and giving formerly incarcerated folks privileged access…to get into the business but no one has really said anything about standards to ensure cannabis jobs are good jobs,” says David Cooper, senior economic analyst at the think tank Economic Policy Institute.
That’s a problem because “the vast majority of people that are going to interact with this industry in terms of their career are going to be folks working rank-and-file,” Cooper says.
Cooper co-authored a report published in September exploring the importance of protecting job quality and workers’ collective bargaining rights in cannabis.
Santa Fe Reporter
November 12, 2021
Unionized workers during the pandemic have been able to secure enhanced safety measures, premium pay, and a say in the terms of any future furloughs or workshare arrangements, according to a report published last year by the Economic Policy Institute.
Workers covered by a union contract also earn on average 11.2 percent more in wages than their non-unionized peers in the same industry and with similar education and experience, the report found.
The Hill
November 12, 2021
“Health and safety concerns are still number one on people’s minds,” Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told Yahoo Money. “More and more jobs are requiring showing up in person. That is still a major concern for many people who may live with vulnerable family members or have concerns about their own health.”
Yahoo Finance
November 12, 2021