Media clips
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“Wage growth of 2.5 percent is far from any reasonable target given the Federal Reserve’s target inflation and trend productivity,” wrote Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “To keep moving us towards the goal of full employment — an economy where there is high demand for labor, and workers have more bargaining power to negotiate higher wages and get the hours they want — we need to keep our foot off the brakes and consider tapping on the gas. If the Federal Reserve hits the brakes by raising interest rates prematurely, the economy may never fully recover.” Gould also updated her helpful chart reminding readers of just how many millions of Americans left the labor force prematurely during the Great Recession and its aftermath, and showing where the unemployment rate would be if they had all remained in the workforce.
Fiscal Times February 8, 2016 -
Valerie Wilson, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, says part of the reason the unemployment rate for blacks may have gone up is because more were looking for work. “Perhaps people who were previously unemployed were encouraged by last month’s numbers and are now looking for employment,” she says, adding that while there’s good news for everyone in this months’ report, “we still maintain that roughly 2-to-1 ratio between black and white unemployment.” “That disparity is very persistent,” Wilson says, “and it’s present whether we’re in a recession or in a recovery. It’s present at all levels of education.”
NPR February 8, 2016 -
Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said that despite January’s low number the jobs report “is a sign that the economy continues to recover.” But she warned that if the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates too early, “the economy may never fully recover.”
Politico February 8, 2016 -
Economists say the job market is still depressed, though. “Job creation and wage growth need to be far stronger, and they need to remain strong for a longer period of time, before the economy is close to full employment,” the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) said in a statement. EPI senior economist Elise Gould said wages and labor participation are not yet where they need to be. The labor force participation rate was up slightly from December to 62.7% in January. Gould pointed to a slight uptick in prime age employment-to-population, the share of workers ages 25 to 54 who have jobs, from 77.4 to 77.7 as one key measure of the health of the job market. “That has a lot of recovering to do,” she said. Unlike the overall labor force participation, which includes retired baby boomers and other structural shifts in the economy, this is a demographic where people would be expected to be working if jobs were available.
WJLA February 8, 2016 -
And although the underlying fundamentals of Friday’s labor report were relatively solid, this is not the kind of overwhelmingly positive report the Fed would need to lift interest rates next month. Most analysts now expect the Fed to change policy much later in the year, if at all. “To keep moving us towards the goal of full employment – an economy where there is high demand for labor, and workers have more bargaining power to negotiate higher wages and get the hours they want – we need to keep our foot off the brakes and consider tapping on the gas,” Elise Gould, a senior economist and director of health policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a research note Friday. “If the Federal Reserve hits the brakes by raising interest rates prematurely, the economy may never fully recovery.”
U.S. News & World Report February 8, 2016 -
One key measure did show some improvement: The size of the work force increased slightly, nudging the participation rate up to 62.7 percent after falling to the lowest level in a generation last year. “Job creation and wage growth need to be far stronger, and they need to remain strong for a longer period of time, before the economy is close to full employment,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The Washington Post February 5, 2016 -
Productivity is closely tied to wages. Employers pay workers more with increased profits they can get from workers being more efficient and productive. Right now, productivity and wages are both stuck, and one reason is lack of business investment in new plant and equipment and technology, said analyst Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute. Businesses “are not very convinced they should open new factories and open new hotels,” said Bivens, “because the ones they have are not running at full capacity, so they need to see more customers and more demand growth before they’ll do that investment.” Bivens pointed out that U.S. businesses have a lot of cash on hand, and it’s cheap to borrow for productivity-enhancing workplace improvements, with interest rates still historically low. But he said they aren’t likely to make that investment unless the economy heats up a lot more.
Marketplace February 5, 2016 -
A student with an empty stomach or a toothache won’t learn as well as one who is healthy. “All kids can learn, and they can learn at high levels, but it’s very conditional on kids having the right opportunities,” said Elaine Weiss, an education expert at the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. “Those opportunities to learn tend to be extremely disparate, based in particular on social class and also, to a large extent, on race.”
The Atlantic February 5, 2016 -
EPI Family Budget Calculator.
The Huffington Post February 5, 2016 -
A report issued last year by the Economic Policy Institute argues the negative side-effects of on-call shifts take an even broader toll on the economy. The non-partisan group said at least 10 percent of the workforce is assigned to irregular or on-call hours, and these employees are more likely to have work-family conflicts. This has the potential to hinder their children’s education and future, said Leila Morsy, who co-authored the report.
CNBC February 5, 2016