Media clips

• 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
• The black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968

  “This idea that we’re all in this together is sort of a false statement to make,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy. “Black workers are the least likely to be able to work from home.”

  On average, black households had $8,762 in cash or equivalent liquid assets compared with $49,529 for white households, according to government data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute. Black households with a high school degree or less had, on average, only $5,289 in liquid assets.

  The Washington Post June 4, 2020
• Black unemployment 2020: African Americans bear brunt of economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus

  “The pandemic and related job losses have been especially devastating for black households,” the Economic Policy Institute said in a recent report. “They have historically suffered from higher unemployment rates, lower wages, lower incomes, and much less savings to fall back on, as well as significantly higher poverty rates than their white counterparts.”

  “It certainly is the case that we were finally seeing the recovery from the Great Recession hit more and more people,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. “Historically disadvantaged groups were finally beginning to see lower unemployment rates.”

  USA Today June 4, 2020
• Nearly 43 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic
  And that complicates the math when trying to determine how many people need unemployment aid, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, in a thread of tweets.
  CNN June 4, 2020
• 1/3 of labor force now jobless as pandemic unemployment climbs

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 1.877 million people filed new claims for state jobless benefits in the week ending May 30. But another three million-plus newly jobless workers were forced to seek only new federal jobless benefits available from the $2.2 trillion stimulus law Congress passed in March, Economic Policy Institute Policy Director Heidi Shierholz pointed out.

  People's Weekly World June 4, 2020