Images of Oklahoma teachers in the streets demanding pay raises and education funding, and of hotel workers and Hollywood celebrities fighting sexual harassment in the workplace may have cheered labor advocates. But a new study, released today by the Economic Policy Institute, offers a sobering reminder of the eroding bargaining power of U.S. workers. (whole story)
LA Progressive
April 9, 2018
Employees in low-wage workplaces, women and African-Americans are more likely to be subject to mandatory arbitration agreements in employment contracts than other groups, potentially limiting their access to the court system, a study released Friday by the Economic Policy Institute found. (Appears to be whole story)
Corporate Counsel
April 9, 2018
We’re confident King would have endorsed a push to build minority wealth in Kansas City, not just one-time cash grants and contracts.
▪ Jail reform. According to analysis from Economic Policy Institute, the share of African Americans nationally in prison or jail almost tripled between 1968 and 2016.
In 1968, African Americans were about 5.4 times as likely as whites to be in prison or jail. Today, African Americans are 6.4 times as likely as whites to be incarcerated.
The Kansas City Star
April 9, 2018
Elise Gould, economista con el Economic Policy Institute explicaba que buena parte de estas subidas y bajadas tiene que ver con el clima en gran parte del país que ha sido mucho más frío de lo normal para las fechas. “Febrero estuvo posiblemente animado por un clima relativamente bueno”, explicaba en una nota, “mientras que marzo ha sido más duro”. Gould señala que en el sector de la construcción, muy marcado por las temperaturas, en febrero hubo 60,000 contrataciones pero un mes más tarde apenas 15,000.
La Opinion
April 9, 2018
Elise Gould, a senior economist for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, noted that wage growth for non-supervisory workers was even weaker, rising just 2.4 percent over last year. “The gap between the two series reflects the continual growth of inequality in the economy today as supervisory workers continue to pull away from the vast majority of the workforce,” Gould said in a written statement.
Politico Pro
April 9, 2018
“February’s number was likely boosted by relatively mild weather, while the March number was likely depressed by relatively harsh weather,” Elise Gould, senior economist at Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a statement. Other economists pointed to a Labor Department data set that tracks people with a job who weren’t working because of the weather in any given month, which declined by about 100,000 people in March from February. This is “similar to the [106,000] median decline in the past 10 March reports,” according to Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. Still, the number isn’t adjusted for seasonality.
The Wall Street Journal
April 9, 2018
REPORT: MANDATORY ARBITRATION ON THE RISE: American employers are increasingly imposing mandatory arbitration agreements to resolve workplace disputes, according to a report published by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. The share of workers who’ve signed mandatory arbitration clauses has more than doubled since the early 2000s, encompassing more than half of all non-unionized workers in the private sector. “Research has found that employees are less likely to win arbitration cases and they recover lower damages in mandatory employment arbitration than in the courts,” writes Cornell Professor Alexander J.S. Colvin. Read the report here.
Politico Pro
April 6, 2018
This bill is a response to the overwhelming prevalence of mandatory arbitration agreements in the American private sector. As the Economic Policy Institute explains, under mandatory arbitration agreements “workers whose rights are violated can’t pursue their claims in court but must submit to arbitration procedures that research shows overwhelmingly favor employers.”
Quartz
April 6, 2018
While the divides in median income and homeownership mirror similar disparities in other American cities, particularly as they apply to black males, the gaps between blacks and whites in Sacramento County exist in stark contrast to California’s image as a liberal nirvana in which ethnic populations have equal access to the ladder of upward economic mobility. Employment numbers are another key metric of a population’s overall health, and black Californians consistently lag behind whites and, increasingly, behind Hispanics, as well: In the third quarter of 2017, black unemployment in California was 7.9 percent, outpacing the rate for Hispanics (5.6 percent), whites (4.4 percent) and Asian residents (3.9 percent), according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The New York Times
April 6, 2018
According to Bloomberg News and independent analysis, the steel and aluminum tariffs have the potential to add 19,000 new jobs to the U.S. economy. Furthermore, the Economic Policy Institute – a well-respected think tank in Washington – also concluded that the estimates of jobs lost and harm espoused by some due to the steel and aluminum tariffs are “wildly exaggerated.”
Fox News
April 6, 2018