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Studies have shown increased immigration is a windfall mainly for the rich. The more immigrants enter the country, the bigger the pool of labor to choose from. That’s great for top executives and anyone who owns a lot of capital, as the rise in labor supply, all else equal, tends to depress wages and therefore drive up profits and share prices. Needless to say, having more workers typically doesn’t bode well for those competing with immigrant labor, especially when unemployment is high amid a slow growing economy.
This affects both skilled and unskilled workers. The H-1B visa program that sets quotas for immigrants in “specialty occupations” has had a major wage-depressing and job-displacing effect on highly educated and skilled native-born tech workers, according to a 2013 report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Fortune July 22, 2014 -
Year over year, the states with the largest employment increases are Texas, up 371,000 jobs; California, with 356,400 more jobs; and Florida, which is ahead 237,500.
California’s unusual distinction — it’s a leader in both job gains and one of the states with the highest unemployment rates — shows how deep a hole the U.S. sank into economically in the last recession. When you lose a lot of jobs, it’s easier to show big gains on the way back, says David Cooper, of the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
By EPI’s analysis, 31 states still aren’t back to the employment levels they had when the recession started in December 2007. And given the growth in population since then, a healthy economy should have added 6.5 million jobs by now on top of regaining all the lost jobs, Cooper says.
“Things are getting better, but it’s taken so long for us to get there we can’t celebrate that much,” Cooper says.
USA Today July 22, 2014 -
Although California has now recovered all the jobs lost during the recession, economists caution that it is more of a symbolic milestone. As the state’s population grows, more people are entering the workforce. In July 2007, for instance, the state’s unemployment was far lower — at 5.4%.”It may have some psychological effect, but it’s an economically meaningless benchmark,” said Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
Los Angeles Times July 22, 2014 -
Domestic workers, including homecare workers, have long struggled to gain the legal benefits and protections that other workers in our society enjoy. It wasn’t until the 1970s that most domestic workers were finally covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which offers overtime protections and a minimum wage. Even so, one category of domestic worker was exempted from the FLSA: workers who provide “companionship services,” a group that includes homecare workers. Precisely because the traditional New Deal–era legislation offered no remedies to this group of workers, they need unions to fight for their rights. According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Ross Eisenbrey, because of union contracts, “this almost entirely female workforce has made huge improvements in wages and benefits, in training, and in respect in the states that provide for collective bargaining.” But those gains are seriously threatened by the actions the court took in Harris.
The Nation July 18, 2014 -
As graduation parties wrap up and summer stretches on, college and high school grads may be throwing themselves into the job search.
The task before them is not an easy one.
There’s plenty of competition, for one. In addition to job seekers, the number of “missing workers” younger than 25 — individuals who would like to work but who have dropped out of the labor force for lack of opportunities — is near 1 million.
While that’s down from the peak of 1.72 million a few years ago, it’s more than three times as many as when the recession began in 2007, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute.
“Things have been so weak for so long that there’s this big pool of people who are out of the workforce,” said Heidi Shierholz, a labor market economist at EPI who co-wrote the study.
Chicago Tribune July 18, 2014 -
1. A four-year degree is an increasingly uncertain investment. It still pays big time to get a college degree. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, the pay gap between those with a four-year degree and those with no college reached an all-time high last year, with degree holders earning more than 1.8 times as much as high-school graduates.
But the income gap between those with some college and a high-school education has remained flat for years. And as the cost of college is increasing faster than inflation, the return on getting just some college is dropping quickly. While we’d like to live in a world where every student has the desire to and is capable of obtaining a four-year degree, this trend will undoubtedly make students on the margin think twice about the expense of college, and will lead many to experiment with cheaper and less labor-intensive forms of training like online courses or vocational school.
Fortune July 18, 2014 -
Long-term unemployment — the portion of those out of work at 27 weeks or longer — has improved to the lowest level in five years, Labor Department data released July 3 show. Yet at 32.8 percent, the rate still far exceeds the 12.8 percent average from 1948 until the start of the last recession.
The long-term jobless rate in 2013 was stuck above pre-recession levels for every education, age, gender, ethnic, occupation and industry group, according to data compiled by Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, which conducts research on the condition of low- and middle-income workers.
Bloomberg July 18, 2014 -
The 10 most endangered jobs – aside from buggy repairmen – all have something to do with paper. They include mail carriers, lumberjacks, printing press operators, and, erm, newspaper reporters.
Only 11% of U.S. workers are eligible for overtime – and workers would benefit from getting more overtime pay, says the Economic Policy Institute.
Nothing says “I love you” like a wedding at McDonald’s. Mickey D’s has hosted about a dozen wedding parties in Singapore and expanded the number of restaurants offering the service to 15 from 3.
USA Today July 18, 2014 -
2. Making money in the new economy. According to “The Economist”, the share of corporate income that goes to workers, as opposed to shareholders, has been going down for 30 years, and not just in America, but also across the world. In a separate report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that the share of worker income has decreased from 66 percent to 62 percent since the early 1990s. That’s why, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, after-inflation wages have gone up only about 10 percent (and the minimum wage hasn’t gone up at all), but the stock market has enriched investors including Wall Street bankers, as well as retirees, pension funds and school endowments by about 400 percent.
US News and World Report July 18, 2014 -
Despite escalating costs and recent debates as to whether obtaining a four-year degree is worth it, having a college education is still the best route to financial success.
The Economic Policy Institute found that those with a four-year college degree made 98 percent more per hour on average in 2013 than those without a degree.
As college tuition and education-related expenses continue to escalate, it’s more important than ever to calculate how much you need to save and start saving early. And enrolling in a college savings program can help you meet your financial goals.
WTOP July 18, 2014