Media clips

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• More than 42 million Americans now lost jobs during COVID-19 crisis and less than HALF of all African Americans were working in April

  ‘The more time goes by, summing up initial claims gets a little dicey,’ said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy for the Economic Policy Institute.

  Daily Mail June 5, 2020
• How Social And Economic Disparities Have Worsened Pandemic’s Effects On Black Workers

  NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks to Valerie Wilson from the Economic Policy Institute about why the pandemic has disproportionately affected African-American workers and families.

  The coronavirus pandemic has pushed unemployment to its highest level in the U.S. since the Great Depression. Last week, another 1.87 million people filed for unemployment. That brings the total claims this spring to over 42 million. And it has disproportionately affected black workers and families. Valerie Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute says, in a recent report, that this is because of historic and ongoing social and economic injustices. And she joins us now. Welcome.

  NPR June 5, 2020
• The Long Reach of Racism in the U.S.

  At 20.8%, the black poverty rate is 2.5 times the white rate. The wealth gap between blacks and whites has also worsened. In 2016 the net worth of white families, at $171,000, was almost 10 times greater than that of the typical black household. The Economic Policy Institute reports that between 2000 and 2018 the gap between black and white incomes worsened at every level.

  The Wall Street Journal June 5, 2020
• ESG Insights — Social Distancing Creates Opportunity for Manufacturers

  The economic fallout from the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in the U.S. Minority groups such as black Americans are among the most exposed to unemployment through mass layoffs in the hospitality and manufacturing industries, according to the Economic Policy Institute. They are also overrepresented in front-line jobs where exposure to infection is high, and tend to live in denser, multi-generation communities where the spread of the coronavirus has been fiercer, according to EPI. Underlying health and economic conditions all contribute to increased vulnerability during the pandemic. Black Americans make up just over 12% of the U.S. population but account for 22.4% of Covid-19 deaths, EPI said.

  The Wall Street Journal June 5, 2020
• She Paid Thousands for a Visa to Work in the U.S. Then She Got Laid Off. Now, She’s Trapped.

  Even without a global pandemic, J-1 visitors can have a hard time finding help, said Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of a 2019 report on a J-1 summer work-and-travel program for college students.

  ProPublica June 5, 2020
• Headlines: June 4, 2020

  As the economic fallout from the coronavirus continues, the Labor Department released its latest figures on Thursday showing that 1.9 million people filed for jobless benefits last week.  According to the Economic Policy Institute, “Close to one in four workers are either on unemployment benefits or are waiting to receive them.” Meanwhile thousands of workers whose jobs were reinstated are caught between risking their health in an unsafe work environment or losing a paycheck. In many states, employers are simply firing their workers and reporting them to authorities so that they lose their unemployment benefits.

  Rising Up with Sonali June 5, 2020
• Mounting unemployment crisis fuels racial wealth gap

  “Congress knows that recessions hit black households harder, and it also knows that it has the power to take action that will weaken the recession and strengthen the recovery,” Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote on Thursday. “If it doesn’t act, it will be yet another assault on black people.”

  Politico June 5, 2020
• 1.8 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing 11-week total to about 42 million

  At least one survey from the Economic Policy Institute found that millions of Americans gave up trying to seek benefits or didn’t even attempt to due to states’ overwhelmed and antiquated unemployment systems.

  News 5 Cleveland June 5, 2020
• 2020 Daily Trail Markers: 58% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of race relations

  About 21.5 million Americans were still collecting unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, for the week ending May 23, according to the Labor Department. But an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute finds that looking at all unemployment programs, 37.2 million people are either receiving benefits or have applied for benefits and waiting to hear if they will receive them. That’s nearly a quarter of the American workforce.

  CBS News June 5, 2020
• 60 Years After The End Of Segregation, Nashville Is Still A Long Way From Reconciliation

  According to a 2018 Economic Policy Institute report, “The share of African Americans in prison or jail almost tripled between 1968 and 2016 and is currently more than six times the white incarceration rate.”

  90.3 WPLN News June 5, 2020