The huge number of claims has overwhelmed unemployment bureaucracies and technology, according to Heidi Shierholz, the senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute and the former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor.
NBC News
April 20, 2020
Preliminary state data on race and ethnicity show Latinos make up about 20% of the state’s population but 30% of the diagnosed COVID-19 cases. According to the Economic Policy Institute, less than one in five black workers and roughly one in six Hispanic workers nationally are able to work from home compared to roughly one and three white people.
Colorado Independent
April 20, 2020
According to Daniel Costa, director of immigration law at the Economic Policy Institute, the nationwide average pay rate for H-2A workers is $12.96 per hour—and the rate is even less in “some of the biggest H-2A states.” So while farm workers continue to risk their lives to keep the nation fed during a global pandemic and economic meltdown, Trump’s USDA is figuring out how to cut their wages, not compensate them with hazard pay.
Costa called on the labor department to put out an emergency regulation requiring additional spacing in employer-provided housing and on buses, because he says the terms of H-2A employment make the workers especially vulnerable to catching and spreading the coronavirus. “It’s shocking that a number of actions have now been taken to prioritize the ability of employers to get H-2A workers,” he says, “but there’s been zero effort to ensure that H-2A workers are able to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic.”
Mother Jones
April 20, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank, H-2A workers are already underpaid compared to other workers.
“In 2019, the average wage of all nonsupervisory farmworkers was $13.99 per hour, according to USDA, while the average wage for all workers in 2019 was $26.53 per hour, meaning the farmworker wage was just 53% of the average for all workers,” read an EPI post. “And the average wage for production and nonsupervisory nonfarm workers—the most logical cohort for workers outside of agriculture to compare with farmworkers—was $23.51.
Cal Matters
April 20, 2020
America is experiencing the largest increase in unemployment in history. But why are so many Americans paying the price for the COVID-19 pandemic?
AJ+
April 20, 2020
Fast forward two years: A global pandemic has plunged the world into crisis and the American markets into chaos. As of April 17, the number of COVID-19 cases ballooned to more than 2 million worldwide with 139,378 reported deaths, and growing. The United States accounts for 690,714 of these cases, though this estimate is conservative. Comparisons to the Spanish flu and the Great Depression fail to capture the moment. Social distancing for up to 18 months, by some estimates. Shortages of tests and ventilators. Empty store shelves. Toilet paper a rare commodity. The economy grinding to a halt as countries close their borders and businesses shut their doors. “Even with moderate fiscal stimulus, we’re likely to see 3 million jobs lost by summertime,” wrote Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, in a post published on March 17. One month later, the Washington Post reported more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment aid. Absent a dramatic shift, the coronavirus pandemic will be remembered as one of the darkest chapters in American history.
In These Times
April 20, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic could cut the number of H-2A workers by up to 60,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington. Put in context, the U.S. Department of State granted more than 204,801 H-2A visas in fiscal year 2019, with each job lasting an average of six months. The workforce fulfilled around 79% of the labor demand that year, according to federal data.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
April 20, 2020
Demand for farm labor has risen significantly in recent years, with the shortage compounded by fewer younger people wanting to work in agriculture, among other factors. In fiscal year 2005, the United States certified 48,336 jobs that could accept H-2A workers, according to federal data. By 2018, data showed that figure had quintupled to 242,762 jobs, which ran an average of about 5 1/2 months. Of that, the U.S. issued 196,409 H-2A visas. Historically, the bulk of H-2A certified jobs have been in Florida, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Washington, and California. The coronavirus pandemic could cut the number of H-2A workers by up to 60,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit think tank in Washington. Put in context, the U.S. Department of State granted more than 204,801 H-2A visas in fiscal year 2019, with each job lasting an average of six months. The workforce fulfilled around 79% of the labor demand that year, according to federal data.
Pro Farmer
April 20, 2020
An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that 9.2 million Americans likely lost their health insurance coverage in the past month as unemployment surged nationwide. As most Americans access their health care through employers, losing a job often means losing insurance coverage as well. In the past four weeks, some 22 million workers have applied for unemployment, with analysts projecting that the unemployment rate now stands at about 15 percent.
Newsweek
April 20, 2020