Media clips

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• COVID-19 Daily Update: June 5, 2020

  Workers in the U.S. filed 1.9 million new unemployment claims last week, according to the Department of Labor. An additional 623,000 individuals filed under the temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for those who can’t claim traditional unemployment benefits. In April, when the coronavirus hammered employment in the U.S., job losses for white Americans amounted to 15.5%, while black job losses totaled 17.8%, according to Economic Policy Institute research.

  S&P Global June 5, 2020
• COVID-19’s Economic Fallout Is Hitting The Black Community Hard, Too

  “Institutional racism and historical discrimination have meant that Black workers have fared worse in the labor market, even in good times,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute who co-authored a report this week looking at the devastating toll COVID-19 has taken on Black workers.

  “When we have a severe economic downturn like we’re having right now, it disproportionately disadvantages Black workers,” she added. “They’re the ones more likely to lose their jobs, but they’re also the ones less able to weather the storm.”

  The Huffington Post June 5, 2020
• Crapo Statement at Title IV Implementation Hearing

  “With that, today we welcome to this virtual hearing the following witnesses: Mr. Thomas Quaadman, Executive Vice President, U.S. Chamber, Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness; Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum; and Dr. Heidi Shierholz, Senior Economist and Director of Policy, Economic Policy Institute.

  United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs June 5, 2020
• El país empieza a abrir, pero se siguen perdiendo empleos

  Heidi Shierholz, economista del Economic Policy Institute explicaba en un tuit que esta es “la undécima semana seguida en la que las solicitudes de desempleo son más del doble que en la peor semana de la Gran Recesión”.

  La Opinion June 5, 2020
• Explainer: No one really knows how many Americans need unemployment benefits

  “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.

  Reuters June 5, 2020
• 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
• Layoffs Set Foreign Tech Workers on a Two-Month Dash for Sponsors

  An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people in tech are working on H-1B visas, said Daniel Costa, a director at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Highly skilled immigrants, hailing from dozens of countries and in particular India and China, can use the visas to stay in the country for six years.

  The Information June 5, 2020
• Racial Inequality: Black Workers Face ‘Devastating Job Loss’ During The Pandemic, Study Says

  Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity and the economy. (@ValerieRWilson)

  Economic Policy Institute: “Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality” — ““We’re all in this together” has become a rallying cry during the coronavirus pandemic. While it is true that COVID-19 has affected everyone in some way, the magnitude and nature of the impact has been anything but universal. Evidence to date suggests that black and Hispanic workers face much more economic and health insecurity from COVID-19 than white workers.”

  WBUR June 5, 2020
• Job losses hit hard in Black communities

  Valerie Wilson at the Economic Policy Institute says those are most likely professional, office-type jobs.

  “Given occupational segregation, African Americans are less likely to be in those higher-paid occupations,” Wilson said. “That in large part accounts for the disparity in the share of African American workers able to work remotely during this time.”

  She also says Black households are more likely to have just a single wage-earner to depend on.

  “When you lose your job, all of the resources available to that household go,” Wilson said. “It’s unlikely anyone who loses a job now will be able to quickly find another one.”

  Marketplace June 5, 2020