According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, the black unemployment rate was at or below its pre-recession levels in only nine states by the end of last year.
The causes are not explained by educational differences. As another EPI report showed, African-Americans have nearly twice the same unemployment rates for similarly educated whites.
Seattle Times
February 24, 2016
The lowest state jobless rate for black workers in the country matches the highest rate for white workers in a new analysis. At 6.7%, Virginia’s black unemployment rate was the lowest in the nation in the fourth quarter. That rate happens to be the same as the jobless rate for white workers in West Virginia, the worst in the country, according to a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. The report, released this month, found that while unemployment rates have fallen across much of the country and the national unemployment rate is now half of its recession-era peak, only a handful of states have seen meaningful improvement in the labor market for African-American and Latino workers. And conditions vary greatly from state to state.
Wall Street Journal
February 23, 2016
The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education is re-launching today with new co-chairs, a new advisory board and an expanded mission statement. BBA wanted the refresh and a more expanded policy agenda in the wake of ESSA’s passage. The advocacy group first launched seven years ago with a policy agenda that emphasized poverty as at the root of disparities in education. That agenda was embraced by teachers unions and traditional public school advocates while earning criticism from reformers. The relaunch event starts at 8:30 a.m. ET at the Capitol Visitors Center. More details on the group’s broader policy agenda.
Politico
February 23, 2016
Of course, corporate bigwigs have always been handsomely rewarded. But in the past generation, average pay for CEOs at American’s largest companies has leaped nearly six fold, from $2.8 million a year in 1989 to $16.3 million today, according the Economic Policy Institute. Exactly why this has happened is a matter of some debate, even among experts. Arguments range from corporate self-dealing to the just rewards for talent in a free-market system.
But that doesn’t exactly mean boards have turned back the clock. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the typical CEO made about 58 times the average worker in 1989. By 2014 it had climbed to more than 300 times.
Time Magazine
February 23, 2016
When whites without college degrees look back, they can often remember fathers who were sustained by the booming industrial economy of postwar America. Since then, however, the industrial job market has slowed significantly. The hourly wages of male high school graduates declined by 14 percent from 1973 to 2012, according to analysis of data from the Economic Policy Institute. Although high school educated white women haven’t experienced the same major reversal of the job market, they may look at their husbands—or, if they are single, to the men they choose not to marry—and reason that life was better when they were growing up.
The New York Times
February 22, 2016
To cope with income loss, most reported falling back on personal savings—and in a sign of how the income erosion has cascading effects for the whole economy, nearly half took on credit-card debt, a quarter borrowed from friends, and 7 percent tapped into public assistance. This is happening in an economy in which regular wage theft for traditional workers is already tremendous; one analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that more than $930 million were formally recovered for wage-theft victims over the course of 2012 alone, not counting cases of wage disputes that were never legally resolved.
The Nation
February 22, 2016
David Cooper, an economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., told The Associated Press that while wage increases are generally a good thing, he does have some hesitations about the regional approach included in Oregon’s legislation. “I think any time you create these sorts of somewhat arbitrary geographic districts, that’s when you can create opportunities for some sort of economic disruption,” he said. “I would prefer the whole state got to the same wage level but at a slower pace by region so that everyone is held to the same standard.”
Christian Science Monitor
February 22, 2016
Larry Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, a union-backed think tank, described the economic situation as a breach of trust where average Americans have languished while wealth continues to be accumulated by the rich. “People have lost faith in government,” he said. “People feel it’s not working for them.”
Los Angeles Times
February 22, 2016
Since the White House set out to define the challenge two years ago, there’s been little progress in closing the economic divide for American families — let alone the political divide over the government’s role in closing that gap. Never mind a consensus on the impact and effectiveness of specific policy solutions. “There are broad policies that could move things in the right direction because of where people are situated and certain types of jobs — like raising the minimum wage, creating policies that will ensure sustainable employment,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy. “But there are also policies that are being eroded like affirmative action in higher education admissions.”
CNBC
February 22, 2016
The Week
February 22, 2016