Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta noted in a written statement that “Americans rejoining the workforce represented their largest share of the unemployed since before the recession.” The unemployment rate is “increasing for positive reasons as more workers entered the labor force,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, agreed in a written statement.
Politico Pro
July 9, 2018
Wages continued their modest rise, increasing 2.7 percent from the year before. “What’s surprising is not that employers may have to start increasing wages now as the labor market keeps tightening, but rather that they haven’t felt that pressure yet,” Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a blog post.
CBS Moneywatch
July 9, 2018
We turn to Elise Gould, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. “While an increase in the unemployment rate is generally considered to be a negative sign for the economy,” she said in a statement, “a rise accompanied by an increase in labor force entrants can be taken as an indication that more would-be workers are hopeful about their job prospects and have begun actively seeking work.” (Elise quoted throughout)
MultiBriefs
July 9, 2018
And even progressive economists like Josh Bivens aren’t sure whether a job guarantee is a good idea, mainly because they wonder whether the government can figure out how to manage large numbers of workers hired under the program and are uncertain about the cost. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty much with Bivens here, although I think he may be overstating the difficulties a bit; the goal of the jobs guarantee is laudable, but there are better ways to get there.
The New York Times
July 9, 2018
A federal jobs guarantee is more problematic, and a number of progressive economists with significant platforms have argued against it: Josh Bivens, Dean Baker, Larry Summers. (Yes, Larry Summers: whatever you think of his role in the Clinton and Obama administrations, he’s a daring, unconventional thinker when not in office, with a strongly progressive lean.) And I myself don’t think it’s the best way to deal with the problem of low pay and inadequate employment; like Bivens and his colleagues at EPI, I’d go for a more targeted set of policies.
The New York Times
July 9, 2018
Despite Wisconsin’s low unemployment rate, the economic insecurity that Mr. Walker and Mr. Trump exploited still exists. New research by David Cooper, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, has shown that much of Wisconsin’s job growth is in low-wage industries, which offer few, if any, benefits. “When you strip away their benefits and people see their standard of living shrinking, well, there’s anger there,” Mr. Schultz, the former state senator, told me.
The New York Times
July 9, 2018
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing employees to opt out of paying fees to the unions who represent them will impact public-sector unions across the country, potentially weakening their collective bargaining power. But the 5-4 ruling in the case, known as Janus v. AFSCME, could have an especially bad impact on African-American women, according to an analysis done by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). “The groups that most benefit from collective bargaining are those who are most vulnerable in the labor market,” says Economic Policy Institute Vice President John Schmitt. “The challenge for black women in the labor market is that they face double discrimination based on race and based on gender.” (John/EPI cited throughout)
Governing
July 9, 2018
Recent figures from the Economic Policy Institute reveal that, despite the state’s overall economic recovery, things are still tight for many residents in Southern California. A family of two adults and two children in L.A. County, for example, needs to earn $92,295 a year to meet all of its living expenses, according to the institute’s Family Budget Calculator. That far outstrips the county’s median family income of $66,203 per year.
The Orange County Register
July 9, 2018
Hispanic people now make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, but compared to their white counterparts, they are still largely disadvantaged when it comes to wages. Since 2000, the wage gap between Hispanic workers and their peers has remained practically unchanged: Hispanic men working full time made 14.9% less in hourly wages in 2016 compared to white men (compared to 17.8% in 2000) and Hispanic women made 33.1% less than white counterparts (compared to 35.1% in 2000). The gap varies largely within the Hispanic community depending on a number of factors, Marie Mora, co-author on the study and professor of economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley said. (Marie quoted throughout)
MarketWatch
July 6, 2018
Richard Rothstein, a former New York Times national education writer and senior fellow emeritus at the Economic Policy Institute who wrote “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America,” has written extensively about why affirmative action based on race remains important, especially for African Americans. He takes issue with those who have supported “color-blind” affirmative action that relies on socioeconomics. In 2014, he wrote (and you can read the entire piece here):
The Washington Post
July 5, 2018