In the absence of rising incomes, debt was the means through which many people bought opportunity for themselves and their children. People became more comfortable with red ink because they had to, not because they lost “virtue.” These graphs, from the Economic Policy Institute’s State of Working America, are illustrative. Incomes for everyone but the richest Americans have stagnated:
And over the last twenty years, debt has gone up most for those in the middle:
What we’re witnessing, right now, is the failure of a social arrangement. In the 1970s and 80s, government began to pare back its commitments to decent wages, affordable housing, health care, and education, and in response, Americans took on debt to make up for the loss.
The American Prospect
June 6, 2012
Among recent high school graduates not in college, 30 percent are jobless and actively looking for work, according to the Rutgers report; another 14 percent are jobless but not looking for work.
In contrast, an Economic Policy Institute report showed in 2007 an unemployment rate of just 17.5 percent among recent high school graduates not attending college.
The Huffington Post
June 6, 2012
And since the recession began in 2008, the number of people who were part time because they couldn’t find a full-time position skyrocketed by 1.4 million individuals, or 117 percent, according to research by Heidi Shierholz, economist for the Economic Policy Institute.
“It’s probably more a story of job opportunities,” she said. “Desperate workers have to settle with what they can find.”
MSNBC
June 5, 2012
“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