“I’m happy about that uptick, but I need more to be convinced,” said Heidi Shierholz, labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. “It’s still far, far below where it was before the recession started.”
CNNMoney
June 5, 2012
In total, the economy has lost 1.4 million jobs since Obama and Biden took office.
“It had gotten bad by (the time they came into office),” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. “Regardless of political leanings, it is not ambiguous that Obama inherited a labor market in free fall.”
Politifact
June 4, 2012
That more people are looking for work should be good news. It suggests that Americans are increasingly optimistic about their job prospects.
But analysts cautioned that May’s influx was a small one that doesn’t alter the broader trend. Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, estimates that sluggish hiring has discouraged 3.6 million people from looking for work since the recession began in December 2007.
Associated Press
June 4, 2012
The Huffington Post
June 4, 2012
Added Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, “Looking at this ratio sidesteps a lot of structural issues, like baby-boomers retiring. You are looking at prime-age workers and it gives you a better sense of the weakness in our current job market.”
The jobless rate can be misleading because it only includes the share of people looking for work but don’t have a job. Those not trying to get a job aren’t counted as unemployed. And the labor force participation rate has fallen to its lowest level in decades.
Investor's Business Daily
June 4, 2012
Hispanic unemployment is projected to remain above 10% through 2012 in 14 states — including the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
USA Today
June 4, 2012
Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, said he isn’t overly concerned that the number of eligible OPT courses of study was increased.
He said his primary concern is “the fact that none of [the eligible fields] were determined based on demonstrated labor market shortages, and that there are no wage protections for OPT workers, which allows employers to undercut wages paid to US workers.”
“In a few of these fields, there may be shortages, but in many others, it’s unlikely that we’re anywhere near full employment,” said Costa. “But the government hasn’t taken the time to check.”
Computerworld
June 4, 2012
The economy needs to add approximately 100,000 jobs each month to keep even with population growth, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
Bloomberg
June 1, 2012
Judging by recent reports, being a young college graduate is nothing to get excited about these days.
Consider one study from the Economic Policy Institute, which said the unemployment rate averaged 9.4 percent from early 2011 through early 2012 for college graduates age 21 to 24. Another 19.1 percent were underemployed, which included those who worked part time but wanted full-time work. And for the next 10 to 15 years, the Class of 2012 will likely earn less than they would if they had graduated when the economy was stronger.
Chicago Tribune
June 1, 2012
“When there’s persistently high unemployment, employers don’t have to pay big wage increases or improve conditions in order to keep you,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, who has not seen the poll data. “They don’t have to give good packages to new workers when there’s a queue around the block for every job.”
Los Angeles Times
June 1, 2012