Media clips

• Over 25 million Americans are collecting unemployment

  What they’re saying: “We don’t know how many people have fallen off unemployment because they got rehired,” Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, tells Axios.

  • But continued claims show that “on net we’re still seeing a deterioration” in the labor market, Shierholz says.
  Axios May 27, 2020
• Another 2.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
  In normal times, the seasonal adjustments help smooth out the data and provide a clearer picture. But in a crisis such as this one, adjustments can distort what’s really going on, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute.
  CNN May 27, 2020
• For Families Already Stretched to the Limit, the Pandemic Is a Disaster

  For black Americans, whose unemployment rate was double that of white Americans before the pandemic, ­Covid-19 is particularly disastrous. While white unemployment has risen to 14.2 percent, black unemployment has grown to 16.7 percent, according to April data from the Bureau for Labor Statistics, and experts think the black unemployment rate is most likely severely undercounted. Heidi Shierholz, policy director of the Economic Policy Institute who served as the chief economist to the labor secretary under President Barack Obama, told The Washington Post that she expected unemployment among black people to soar to an almost incomprehensible 30 percent, the worst of all racial groups. ‘‘It will be an absolute nightmare,’’ she said.

  The New York Times May 27, 2020
• Heidi Shierholz on Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Workers

  Heidi Shierholz talked about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on essential workers and what was needed to help them.

  C-SPAN May 27, 2020
• How The Crisis Is Making Racial Inequality Worse

  In the United States, these disparities are inextricably linked to race. It’s undeniable when you look at death rates. However, if you were looking simply at unemployment numbers, you might at first get misled. In good times and bad, the black unemployment rate is typically double the white unemployment rate, says economist Valerie Wilson, who directs the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. But if you look at the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the black unemployment rate is 16.7%, which is higher than the white unemployment rate of 14.2% but not close to double.

  The closer parity between black and white unemployment numbers, Wilson says, reflects how widespread the shutdown has been. It also, however, reflects “the disproportionate representation of African Americans in what have been deemed to be essential jobs.” Think grocery cashiers, mail carriers, security guards, health aides, gas-station attendants and fast-food cooks.

  Wilson says having an essential job is a “double-edged sword.” On the one hand, essential workers have greater job security, which might come in handy if unemployment benefits expire. On the other hand, these workers are on the front lines, risking their health. “People are having to choose between their economic security and their health security,” she says. Adding insult to injury, had they been laid off, these workers would have been able to stay home and collect relatively generous unemployment benefits. Instead, they have to work, and they’re often not compensated for lost hours.

  NPR May 27, 2020
• Women suffering steeper job losses in COVID-19 economy

  But Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said there’s more to the story.

  “Even in the male-dominated industries, women are losing their jobs at greater rates,” she said.

  The Hill May 27, 2020
• Nonprofit estimates two-thirds of Nebraska meatpackers are immigrants; worker shortage looms in industry

  Roughly 350 foreign workers were certified for meat and poultry gigs in 2019, according to Daniel Costa at the Economic Policy Institute. Such H-2B visa holders, capped at 66,000 annually, are commonly used in landscaping and resorts.

  Omaha World-Herald May 27, 2020
• Number of working black business owners falls 40 percent, far more than other groups amid coronavirus

  “All recessions exacerbate existing inequalities by race and ethnicity — and always hit black and Hispanic workers harder — but this one will be worse,” Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, told The Washington Post at the time. “It will be an absolute nightmare.”

  The Washington Post May 27, 2020
• Women suffering steeper job losses from COVID-19
  • But Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said there’s more to the story. “Even in the male-dominated industries, women are losing their jobs at greater rates,” she said.
  The Hill May 27, 2020
• Older Workers Returning to Office Fear Both Virus and Job Loss

  AARP research has found that older workers are at risk of layoffs in times of economic uncertainty and have more difficulty getting rehired at previous wages when displaced. Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute found that nearly three-fourths of workers age 65 and older—or over 5 million workers—can’t telecommute and may already be exposing themselves to the virus.

  Bloomberg May 27, 2020