Income inequality has risen in every state since the 1970s, reported a new whitepaper released late this week by the Economic Policy Institute. More recently, the incomes of the top 1 percent grew faster than the incomes of the bottom 99 percent in 43 states and the District of Columbia, the liberal think tank study said. “In 2015, a family in the top 1 percent nationally received, on average, 26.3 times as much income as a family in the bottom 99 percent,” the white paper pointed out. (whole story)
Forbes
July 23, 2018
“While unemployment rates continue to fall across the country, we would like to see this accompanied with real wage growth to definitively say we are at full employment for workers,” Janelle Jones, an analyst with the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement on Friday after the BLS figures were released. (Tweet embedded)
Route Fifty
July 23, 2018
As for why right-to-work laws make states more attractive to businesses when they’re deciding where to locate or expand, Mehan has previously said that companies “don’t want to be forced into a collective bargaining agreement that may make them less competitive than what they’d normally be.” Each side of the right-to-work debate claims that its preferred outcome will have a positive impact on the state’s economy. The Missouri Budget Project, citing an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, says wages in right-to-work states are more than 3 percent less than those in states without the laws nationwide. MBP said Missouri workers made 4 percent more than those in neighboring right-to-work states in 2017.
The Joplin Globe
July 23, 2018
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that wages in right-to-work states are 3 percent lower than those in states such as Missouri that don’t have such laws – even when accounting for differences in cost of living and variances in industry. Supporters of right to work say the policy offers employees more access to jobs. The institute and the Missouri Budget Project also assert that employees in right-to-work states have access to fewer benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, since unions don’t have the resources to advocate for those benefits. Baker said lower wages and fewer benefits have a statewide impact.
Missouri News Service
July 23, 2018
One Idaho county and its county seat are among the spots in the U.S. with the worst income inequality thanks to top earners that rake in nearly 50 times what the average person makes, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute. Blaine County earned the No. 27 spot of most unequal counties in the country, while the Hailey metropolitan area was named the ninth-worst metropolitan area in the country for income inequality, based on 2015 economic data. In addition, the Jackson, Wyoming, metropolitan area — which extends into Eastern Idaho — was the worst metropolitan area in the country for unequal pay. (whole story)
The Idaho Statesman
July 23, 2018
Nevada is the fourth most unequal state in the nation when it comes to income distribution, according to a new report. Income for the wealthiest 1 percent of Nevadans in 2015 was 32.7 times that of the bottom 99 percent, according to “The New Gilded Age,” released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute. The report also found that the top 1 percent gathered one fourth of the total income in the state. (whole story)
The Nevada Current
July 23, 2018
In North Carolina, the average top 1 percent earner takes home more than 20 times what the average earner in the bottom 99 percent earns, according to new research published by the Economic Policy Institute. The average income for the top 1 percent in North Carolina was $903,000 while the average income for the bottom 99 percent was $44,000. That 20.6 top-to-bottom income ratio is below the averages for both the nation and the South, but – like everywhere else in the country – has risen sharply in the past few decades and has again surpassed pre-Recession levels. (whole story)
WUNC
July 23, 2018
The national nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute ranks Indiana 39th among states for income inequality. The institute reports the average top 1 percent in Indiana earns 17.3 times more than the average income of the rest of the state. “What’s really significant about that is that it reflects not just a disparity between what the average Hoosier household is taking home, but it is also reflecting policy changes that’s widening that gap,” says Indiana Institute for Working Families senior policy analyst Andrew Bradley. (whole story)
WFYI
July 23, 2018
A new report shows the average income of the top one percent of Kentuckians is more than 18.4 times greater than the average income of state residents. Income for the wealthiest one percent of earners in Kentucky was more than $719,012 in 2015, compared to an average income of almost $39,990 for all other Kentuckians. The report from the Economic Policy Institute shows from 2009 to 2015 the top one percent income grew 23.2 percent while everyone else’s income grew only 7.2 percent. Ashley Spalding is a senior policy analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. (whole story)
WKMS
July 23, 2018
The nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute last week released an updated report on income equality levels across the country, in all states, all counties and 916 metropolitan areas. The findings should prompt more immediate policy action, especially regarding such concerns as affordable housing. Income inequity has risen in every state and has grown even through the Great Recession recovery. Researchers titled the report “The new gilded age,” using demographic and economic information which shows overall in the U.S. the top 1 percent took home 22.03 percent of all income in 2015; “just below the 1928 peak of 23.9, which preceded the Great Depression.” (whole story)
Grand Rapids Business Journal
July 23, 2018