In June, the progressive Economic Policy Institute projected that the $600 weekly unemployment benefit, if it were to be extended by Congress until July 2021, would increase national GDP by 3.7 percent, support 5,083,197 jobs, and distribute $508.6 billion in income to unemployed workers.
For the same period in Maine, EPI projected the expanded weekly benefit would grow the state’s GDP by 6.8 percent, support 18,025 jobs, and pay out nearly $3.05 billion in personal income.
Maine Beacon
August 4, 2020
In practice, though, companies have ample discretion in setting this level, and often find loopholes, such as hiring through outsourcing firms. A recent paper by Hira and Daniel Costa for the Economic Policy Institute concludes that companies in the D.C. metro area got a 36% discount from the median wage level for the most common certified H-1B occupation (a category of software developers) in the wage bracket for entry-level positions, a difference of $41,746 per employee in fiscal 2019.
Bloomberg Quint
August 4, 2020
“Just apply. Don’t wait,” Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist and policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, told Business Insider. “There’s no reason to wait a week because you can start getting those benefits a soon as possible. It’s good for you, it’s good for the economy.”
Business Insider
August 3, 2020
This support has helped maintain a healthy level of consumer spending, which has, in turn, bolstered roughly 5 million jobs, the Economic Policy Institute found. If the enhanced UI fully lapses in the coming month, the fallout for individual households and the broader economy will be significant.
VOX
August 3, 2020
A separate study by the Economic Policy Institute found that expanding jobless aid boosted personal income by $842 billion in May; extending the boosted benefits through mid-2021, the nonprofit said, would provide an average quarterly boost to GDP of 3.7 percent.
Fox Business
August 3, 2020
According to research by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, among households headed by adults ages 50 to 55, the median retirement savings is only $8,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
MSN Money
August 3, 2020
President Donald Trump’s ban on work visas will reduce the number of immigrants receiving green cards by nearly a third, compared with 2019, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CNBC
August 3, 2020
Tcherneva said her biggest worry after the pandemic will be “normalized” unemployment. CNBC reports that 17.6 million unemployed Americans may not return to their pre-pandemic jobs, citing a study by the Economic Policy Institute. Some recruiting experts predict that previously full-time workers may shift to the gig economy.
Business Insider
August 3, 2020
The analysis aligned with a statement on the GOP proposal published by Economic Policy Institute President Thea M. Lee on Tuesday.
Newsweek
August 3, 2020
Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, noted in a blog post that “last week was the 19th week in a row that unemployment claims have been more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession.”
“Republicans in the Senate just allowed the across-the-board $600 increase in weekly UI benefits to expire,” Shierholz wrote. “They are proposing to (essentially) replace it with a $200 weekly payment. That $400 cut in benefits is not just cruel, it’s terrible economics. These benefits are supporting a huge amount of spending by people who would otherwise have to cut back dramatically. The spending made possible by the $400 that the Senate wants to cut is supporting 3.4 million jobs.”
Common Dreams
August 3, 2020