Black and Latino workers who remain employed in manufacturing were paid 23 to 25 percent less than similarly educated Whites performing the same tasks, according to a 2013 study by the Economic Policy Institute. Median weekly earnings in 2020 were $806 for Black workers and $786 for Latino workers, compared with $1,018 for White workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Washington Post
January 8, 2021
In a country that is short an estimated 100,000 teachers or more, that’s a common problem, said Emma García, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. And while clear data on COVID-19-related teacher retirements, resignations, and layoffs remain difficult to come by, cratering state budgets offer plenty of reason to believe that shortage is about to get worse.
“We know from plenty of previous recessions that after a crisis, there’s a cut in the number education jobs,” García said.
Education Week
January 8, 2021
In 2019, the median Black household earned just 61 cents for every dollar of income for the median Caucasian household, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Public News Service
January 8, 2021
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 25.7 million workers in the US remain officially unemployed, otherwise out of work due to the pandemic, or have experienced a reduction in work hours or pay.
The Guardian
January 8, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute reports that this makes the 42nd straight week in which claims were greater than the worst week of the Great Recession. If Pandemic Unemployment Assistance isn’t counted, then jobless claims were greater than the second worst week of the Great Recession.
EPI’s analysis estimates that millions of people have exhausted their unemployment benefits — some of whom can reapply now that Congress has extended certain benefits through March — but such extensions “just kick the can down the road,” EPI says.
Next City
January 8, 2021
“Rising COVID-19 caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths means our health and economic woes are far from over,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. “President-elect Biden is inheriting an exceedingly troubled economy with millions of families just trying to stay afloat.”
CNN Business
January 8, 2021
What’s the solution to that? A strong union movement is the irrefutable answer — especially in the wake of the pandemic. “During the crisis, unionized workers have been able to secure enhanced safety measures, additional premium pay, paid sick time, and a say in the terms of furloughs or work-share arrangements to save jobs,” wrote researchers at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning, Washington, D.C., think tank, highlighting the benefits of a union.
Truthout
January 8, 2021
Over the last 40 years, incomes of the top 1% of American households have risen by about 160%, according to the labor-oriented Economic Policy Institute; those of the bottom 90% by only 26%.
LA Times
January 8, 2021
In the meantime, the latest COVID relief package will have a positive effect on the economy as soon as this month, said Heidi Shierholz, at the Economic Policy Institute.
“Without that stimulus package, over 10 million people would have lost unemployment insurance benefits at the end of December,” Shierholz said. “That would have been a huge drag on the economy that we will not see.”
And, with the Democrats soon to be in charge, Shierholz said there is likely more relief on the way.
Marketplace
January 8, 2021
The proposal received 1,825 comments, including from the Economic Policy Institute, which estimates that the rule will cost workers — from delivery and transportation workers to those who work at call centers, in agriculture, home health care and elsewhere — at least $3.7 billion a year in pay and benefits.
MarketWatch
January 7, 2021