Media clips
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The government estimates 1.7 million people are “marginally attached” to the labor force: those who would like a job but haven’t looked in the past year because of school or family obligations or because they’ve simply given up hope of finding one. Some economists believe the number could be even higher. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute estimates more than 2 million workers missing from the labor force.
The Washington Post April 4, 2016 -
Most of the improvement in participation is coming from prime-age workers, those who are re-entrants, said Sophia Koropeckyj, a labor economist at Moody’s Analytics. The inflow of younger workers, those who are new entrants or have been students, accounts for less than one-quarter of the increase in the labor force, she said. “People who gave up see the unemployment rate dropping,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, offering one reason for their return. She noted that other government data show job openings are up. “Maybe they’re seeing more ads in the newspaper,” she said. “Maybe it’s just word of mouth.”
Los Angeles Times April 4, 2016 -
Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said that while March’s jobs numbers showed signs of improvement, “wage growth continues to be below target levels, a sign that there continues to be substantial slack in the labor market.” She suggested the Federal Reserve continue to refrain from further interest rate hikes.
Politico April 4, 2016 -
What’s more, extra people looking for work raises the national labor force participation rate – which measures the share of Americans at least 16 years old who are either employed or actively looking for work. That rate ticked up for the second consecutive month to 63 percent—its highest level in two years. “The unemployment rate ticked up slightly, while the labor force participation rate continued to show signs of improvement—an indication that workers are feeling optimistic and are beginning to come off the bench and take some practice swings,” Elise Gould, a senior economist and director of health policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a research note Friday.
U.S. News & World Report April 4, 2016 -
Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute’s “missing worker” metric—which tracks potential workers who by all rights would be either employed or looking for work, but aren’t due to a lack of job opportunities—finally started falling in mid-2015, and dropped again from February to March.
The Week April 4, 2016 -
Daniel Costa, Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute, pointed out that India was also upset last time Congress imposed fees on the guest worker program in 2010, but nothing came of the country’s complaint. “I don’t think they have much of a case, and they probably know they don’t have much of a case, but it’s sort of more symbolic to try to threaten and keep American legislators from passing any reforms on the program,” Costa said.
Vice News April 4, 2016 -
Yet critics of the H-1B visa effort counter that the program has undermined and eroded opportunities for workers born or living in the United States to land well-paying technology jobs. “Technology companies have gotten used to cheap labor on demand, and by bringing in cheap labor, high-tech employers are able to suppress wages,” said Ron Hira, a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute. “Tech employers hold the work permits through this program, and that gives the company extraordinary leverage over the foreign worker and limits their mobility.”
During 2014, 36.8 percent of Silicon Valley’s population was foreign born, a number that rose to 37.4 percent in 2015, according to a report released this year by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. California has a foreign-born population of 27.1 percent, while the U.S. is at 13.1 percent. “If you are a tech company and you know that you can pay much less for a worker through an H-1B visa, why wouldn’t you?” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research with the Economic Policy Institute. “Companies can pay $30,000 a year less to a worker in an H-1B visa program. Multiply that over the six years of the visa, that’s real money.”
San Jose Mercury News April 4, 2016 -
Paul Krugman is correct that much of the negative impact of foreign trade for Americans results from our inadequate domestic policies, including the undercutting of the bargaining power of workers. But for the last 25 years this argument has been used to rationalize a perverse politics in which Democratic presidents ally with big business and Republicans to make trade deals that expose American workers to brutal competition, and then complain that they are helpless to stop these same “allies” from dismantling social safety nets and destroying labor unions. Like it or not, only the threat of protectionism will change this cynical behavior. Those who profess to care about the future of American workers should be demanding an immediate freeze, and where possible a rollback, of any new trade agreements until we have first established domestic policies, like those in Europe and Canada, that allow workers to prosper from trade. —Jeff Faux, Distinguished Fellow, Economic Policy Institute, Washington
The New York Times April 4, 2016 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, the basic-needs budget for a single person in Bakersfield, California, is $14.64. With a single child, it rises to $23.59. In Baltimore, it is $17 for a single person and $29.58 for a worker with a dependent child. The full-time wage necessary to pay fair market rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment in a non-metropolitan area is $14 in both Arizona and Montana, and $18 in California. This compares to the current value of a 2021 $15 wage of $13.34.
The American Prospect April 4, 2016 -
According to numbers from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, the average worker who will see a raise under the new budget is a woman over 25 years old who works full-time and typically provides half her household’s income.
Buzzfeed April 1, 2016