Another 920,000-plus filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in 47 states. Factoring the two figures together, the Economic Policy Institute’s Heidi Shierholz noted that it was the 17th straight week with more than twice as many Americans filing for unemployment benefits than did during the worst week of the Great Recession, when the most jobless claims filed in one week was 665,000 in March 2009.
The Week
July 20, 2020
A 2018 study published in the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, found that Hispanic men earned 15 percent less in hourly wages than non-Hispanic white men. Hispanic women made 33 percent less in hourly wages than non-Hispanic white men.
Sacramento Bee
July 20, 2020
But any recovery will be jerky. The nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute said that due to the latest rise in COVID-19 cases, “Layoffs are going to pick up again as people are laid off for a second time, and hires will likely slow as well.”
LA Times
July 20, 2020
Julia Wolfe, state economic analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, warned in a blog post last week that if Congress fails to extend the enhanced unemployment benefits through next year, “it could cost us more than five million jobs and $500 million in personal income.”
“We should despair for the millions who have lost their jobs and for their families,” Wolfe wrote, “and our top priority as a country should be protecting the health and safety of workers and our broader communities by paying workers to stay home when possible, whether that means working from home some or all of the time, using paid leave, or claiming UI benefits.”
Common Dreams
July 20, 2020
Features interview with Heidi Shierholz.
Cheddar
July 20, 2020
Researchers say there is only one plausible explanation for this persistent disparity. “It’s racial discrimination,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy. “We see [the disparity] at different age cohorts, we see it all across the country, we see it at every level of education.”
ProPublica
July 20, 2020
According to an analysis done by researchers from the Economic Policy Institute using federal Department of Labor data, about 9 percent of North Carolina’s labor force were receiving unemployment insurance by the end of June, about 432,351 individuals. More than a quarter million (253,496) had also applied for or received pandemic unemployment assistance of $600/ month from the federal government.
North Carolina Health News
July 20, 2020
State and local governments have shed more than 1.5 million jobs since February, and the Economic Policy Institute projects those numbers could rise steeply without more federal aid, taking a toll on women and Black public sector workers. Many states have announced planned cuts to education, health care, public safety, and other programs as they grapple with balancing their budgets and hundreds of cities have halted infrastructure projects.
Sinclair Broadcast Group
July 20, 2020
“2.4 million workers applied for the unemployment insurance benefits nationwide last week, and here’s the thing, that is the 17th week in a row that unemployment claims have been more than twice the wrost week of the great recession,” said Heidi Sheirholz of the Economic Policy Institute.
WNEM-TV (Michigan)
July 20, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, rising rates of unemployment during the pandemic have hurt Black Americans more than any other group. This is a health equity problem because, as the Kaiser Family Foundation reports, 49% of people receive health insurance through their work. Unemployment means a loss of health insurance coverage, which is now the case for 18% of Americans.
Chicago Sun Times
July 20, 2020