Louisiana is among the biggest users per capita of the H-2B program. It attracted 2,648 H-2B workers in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington think tank that advocates for low- to middle-income families in the U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., was a co-sponsor of Mikulski’s language. But in contrast to Mikulski, the Economic Policy Institute said there is no evidence of an employee shortage in landscaping, seafood processing or hospitality jobs, the main occupations for which employers hire H-2B workers. The institute says the bill will drive down wages that H-2B employers must pay, providing a strong incentive for U.S. businesses to employ foreign seasonal workers at the expense of U.S. citizens.
New Orleans Times-Picayune
December 22, 2015
But not everyone agrees with that 5% threshold. “While most indicators have been trending in the right direction, nominal wage growth and the prime-age employment-to-population ratio remain far outside of target ranges, and provide ample evidence that the economy has a way to go before reaching full employment,” said Elise Gould, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Wall Street Journal
December 21, 2015
While women of that demographic were earning about 88 cents for every dollar men of the same age made in 2004, those women were making just 81 cents for every dollar men earned in 2014. “You would think as women get more experienced in the labor force, as they get more skilled, they’d have a similar increase to men, but they simply don’t,” said Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.
CNBC
December 21, 2015
The Economic Policy Institute, which showed that women are today paid 20% less than men – a tiny gain, which was accounted for not by an increase in women’s remuneration but by stagnant wages for men.
Forbes
December 21, 2015
The national unemployment rate drastically understates the weakness of job opportunities. According to the Economic Policy Institute, if this large pool of “missing workers” were registered as looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 7 percent and not the official rate of 5 percent.
U.S. News & World Report
December 21, 2015
Here, from the Economic Policy Institute, is something very easy to understand. Black Americans suffer from significantly higher levels of unemployment even when they have the same level of education as white people.
Gawker
December 21, 2015
An estimated 66,000 H-2B visas are distributed on an annual basis. But employers often us the H-2 visa programs to take advantage of legal guest workers. An Economic Policy Institute study found that temporary legal guest workers are as likely to be subjected to low wages as undocumented workers.
Think Progress
December 21, 2015
Josh Bivens, a Fed watcher at the progressive Economic Policy Institute, and a critic of Wednesday’s rate increase, is even more pessimistic. He estimates that if the Fed raises the federal funds rate at the pace that Fed officials believe will be necessary, it will slow economic growth in a meaningful way by the time of the November election. “An increase of 0 to 1.4 percent would have a noticeable effect on the economy,” Bivens said.
The Huffington Post
December 18, 2015
Should only wealthy people be able to have kids in America? According to a new report, childcare center fees for two children is higher than median rent payments in every single state in the United States. Another recent report shows that childcare costs more than in-state college tuition in most states.
The New Republic
December 18, 2015
There is an old adage that is typically passed down by elder black relatives to young children: You have to be twice as good as white people. But according to this graph from the Economic Policy Institute, the adage should be updated: You have to be twice as good as white people to get the same education, but you’ll still be twice as unemployed. The graph shows the racial unemployment gap grows exponentially smaller with more education, but the unemployment rate for black Americans who have graduated with at least one degree is still nearly double that of similarly educated white folks.
The New Republic
December 18, 2015