According to the Economic Policy Institute, in New York City, the number of low-wage jobs ($45,000 annually or lower) rose by 191,000 in 2014. Comparatively, the number of middle-class jobs—defined as paying between $49,971 and $71,692 per year—rose by only 3,745. Meanwhile, cost of living continues to soar, with the result that even some homeless people in New York work two low-wage jobs.
Quartz
April 22, 2016
But while the outlook may look good overall, some economists note that the growth doesn’t apply to every sector. There are still 14 job seekers for every 10 job openings available, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank. The biggest gaps fall in professional fields, healthcare and retail, food services, and construction.
Christian Science Monitor
April 22, 2016
Corporations should pay much more in taxes, mostly to fund the kind of social investments — such as free universal pre-K programs and free tuition at public colleges and universities — the nation badly needs, reckons Hunter Blair, a budget analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank that focuses on low- and middle-income households. “There’s a lack of demand in the economy. If you’re really interested in growth, you’d be interested in more government spending,” Blair said.
The Huffington Post
April 21, 2016
But a 2013 look at the information technology labor market by the Economic Policy Institute found that for every two students who graduate from U.S. colleges with STEM degrees, only one is actually hired into a STEM job. In computer and information science and engineering, it found, U.S. colleges graduate 50% more students than are hired into those fields each year.
USA Today
April 21, 2016
According to the Economic Policy Institute, it would give 13.5 million more workers a new or stronger right to overtime pay — substantially increasing both middle-class incomes and employment. It’s not as high as the $69,000 threshold it would take to return to 1975 levels, after adjusting for inflation, but it’s a courageous step in the right direction. It’s like a minimum wage hike for the middle class.
The New York Times
April 21, 2016
The figures are from a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, on the outlook for the Class of 2016. The EPI is a left-leaning think tank that supports an expanded safety net for young workers; the numbers in their report come directly from analyzing Labor Department data.
The young and idle could be applying for jobs or for school and having a tough go of it; others could be falling back on parents or family. “It’s not clear exactly what they’re doing,” said Elise Gould, an author of the report along with Teresa Kroeger and Tanyell Cooke. What is clear is that high-school grads are doing much worse than college grads. “Young workers are hit harder in bad times and that’s just persisting,” Ms. Gould said. Overall, EPI finds that the class of 2016 has better prospects than those from 2009 to 2015. But for most of the 1.4 million high-school grads who aren’t building a resume, at school or on the job, those prospects must seem very remote.
Wall Street Journal
April 21, 2016
Male college graduates, ages 20 to 24, earned 8 percent more in 2016 than they did in 2000. Meanwhile, their female counterparts made nearly 7 percent less than they did in 2000, according to a different report released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute. The average male college graduate was making $20.94 an hour; the average woman made $16.58, according to EPI’s research.
The Huffington Post
April 21, 2016
Oregon is one of 33 states and Washington D.C. where infant care costs more than college tuition, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. The nonprofit think tank released a report earlier this month calling for greater national investment in early childhood care and education. The report’s authors suggested investments including in resources to help parents access high-quality early care and education and provide home visits with nurses for expecting parents. The Economic Policy Institute also broke down costs of child care by state. The think tank found that in Oregon the average annual costs of child care surpassed costs for in-state tuition at a public four-year college. Annual college tuition was at about $8,616, compared to $11,322 for infant care and $8,787 for care for a 4-year-old. In general, the report found that child care is one of the greatest expenses for a family, and can be unaffordable for typical Oregon families and low-wage workers. Oregon ranked 15th out of states and Washington D.C. for the most costly infant care.
The Oregonian
April 21, 2016
The United States lost 3.2 million jobs to China between 2001 and 2013, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Three-fourths of those jobs were in manufacturing. About 60 percent of the reshored jobs between 2000 and 2015 came from China.
Voice of America
April 21, 2016
Massachusetts trails only Washington, D.C., in child care expenses in the United States, according to an analysis by the progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute. The average annual cost of infant care for one child in Massachusetts is $17,062, or $1,422 per month, the study found. That’s $6,360 more expensive than in-state tuition for a four-year public college, the institute said. Massachusetts joins Washington, D.C., and 32 states as places where day care is more expensive than college.
The Boston Globe
April 20, 2016