Media clips
-
The numbers show that as bad as the unemployment rate is for college graduates—around 19.1 percent—the jobless rate for high school graduates is near 54 percent.
And the skills gap could get worse. Nearly 17 percent of high school graduates had no job or were not enrolled in college in 2011, up from 13.7 in 2007, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CNBC June 25, 2012 -
The policy’s economic impact will probably be limited because the immigrants affected form a small part of the total workforce, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. It won’t produce big changes in growth or the unemployment rate, and concerns by policy critics that U.S. citizens will be displaced probably are unfounded, other labor-market analysts say.
The potential effect on those eligible is another story.
“By far the biggest impact will be on these individuals themselves,” Shierholz said. “They had very limited work opportunities but now they’ll be able to be fully integrated into the labor force.”
Bloomberg BusinessWeek June 22, 2012 -
Trade with China has destroyed every 55th job in America, nearly 2.8 million positions, analysis of government data by Robert E. Scott of the Economic Policy Institute shows. That equals wiping out every job in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Nearly two million of those jobs were in manufacturing, Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. International Trade Commission data show.
Reuters June 21, 2012 -
No surprise then that wages are down, and mobility along with it:
adjusted for inflation, the median hourly wage was lower in 2011 than it was a decade earlier, according to data from a forthcoming book by the Economic Policy Institute, “The State of Working America, 12th Edition.” Good benefits are harder to come by, and people are staying longer in jobs that they want to leave, afraid that they will not be able to find something better. Only 2.1 million people quit their jobs in March, down from the 2.9 million people who quit in December 2007, the first month of the recession.
The Atlantic June 21, 2012 -
Data released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that younger families age 35-44 were the hardest hit by the collapse of the housing bubble. While American families on average experienced a 39% drop in net worth between 2007 and 2010, younger families saw a 54% drop in the same time period. The EPI, a liberal-leaning think tank based in Washington, expressed particular concern in the drop because most families start saving for retirement at this age and because younger families will have to save more than previous generations due to expected declines in pensions and Social Security benefits. Further, the economy grew on a per-capita inflation-adjusted basis each year between 1989 and 2010, while net worth for younger age groups fell over the same time period.
MarketWatch June 21, 2012 -
With the number of unemployed outpacing available jobs, the report somewhat weakens the argument that much of the unemployment problem afflicting the economy is the result of a skills mismatch.
“Unemployed workers far outnumber job openings in every sector,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
“This underscores that by far the main cause of today’s persistent high unemployment is a broad-based lack of demand for workers and not, as is often claimed, available workers lacking the skills needed for the sectors with job openings.”
Reuters June 20, 2012 -
“This is the kind of training that makes a difference,” says Ross Eisenbrey, vice president at the Economic Policy Institute and an expert on workforce economics. Most federal dollars for job training are spent on job-placement programs or short-term training that only qualifies students for low-wage jobs. “They might get résumé-writing advice, how-to-interview assistance, that kind of thing,” Eisenbrey says.
American Prospect June 20, 2012 -
These are anxious days for American workers. Many, like Ms. Woods, are underemployed. Others find pay that is simply not keeping up with their expenses: adjusted for inflation, the median hourly wage was lower in 2011 than it was a decade earlier, according to data from a forthcoming book by the Economic Policy Institute, “The State of Working America, 12th Edition.” Good benefits are harder to come by, and people are staying longer in jobs that they want to leave, afraid that they will not be able to find something better. Only 2.1 million people quit their jobs in March, down from the 2.9 million people who quit in December 2007, the first month of the recession.
“Unfortunately, the wage problems brought on by the recession pile on top of a three-decade stagnation of wages for low- and middle-wage workers,” said Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a research group in Washington that studies the labor market. “In the aftermath of the financial crisis, there has been persistent high unemployment as households reduced debt and scaled back purchases. The consequence for wages has been substantially slower growth across the board, including white-collar and college-educated workers.”
The Washington Post June 20, 2012 -
The recession has hit the underemployed and underpaid. “Throughout the Great Recession and the not-so-great recovery, the most commonly discussed measure of misery has been unemployment. But many middle-class and working-class people who are fortunate enough to have work are struggling as well, which is why Sherry Woods, a 59-year-old van driver from Atlanta, found herself standing in line at a jobs fair this month, with her résumé tucked inside a Bible…These are anxious days for American workers. Many, like Ms. Woods, are underemployed. Others find pay that is simply not keeping up with their expenses: adjusted for inflation, the median hourly wage was lower in 2011 than it was a decade earlier, according to data from a forthcoming book by the Economic Policy Institute, ‘The State of Working America, 12th Edition.’ Good benefits are harder to come by, and people are staying longer in jobs that they want to leave, afraid that they will not be able to find something better.”
The Washington Post June 20, 2012 -
The 12th edition of “The State of Working America,” a book from the Economic Policy Institute, reports that more Americans are taking jobs they are overqualified for and being hurt by income difficulties.
MarketWatch June 20, 2012