The average Black unemployment rate in the District of Columbia had improved in recent years, falling below 10% for the first time since the Great Recession, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of government data. Yet African Americans are overrepresented in federal government jobs, and could wind up bearing the brunt of Trump’s cutbacks.
Bloomberg
April 28, 2025
Looking closer at corruption, the Economic Policy Institute reports that the CEO-vs-worker pay ratio peaked in 2021 at 399:1 [290:1 in 2023]. It has increased by over 1,000% since 1978 as compared to average worker pay, which has increased by only 24%. In 1965 the CEO-vs-worker pay ratio was 21:1.
Salt Lake Tribune
April 28, 2025
Features interview with Daniel Costa.
More Perfect Union
April 28, 2025
Now, access to courts is barred for more than 60 million American workers, according to a 2017 report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Houston Chronicle
April 28, 2025
Still steep: In the US at large, the average family paid close to $12,000 per year for child care in 2023, per NBC News. According to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, New Mexicans are still paying more for infant care than they are for housing and college tuition, with infant care for just one child eating up more than a fifth of the median family income in the state. For workers earning just the minimum wage, they’d have to fork over more than 57% of their annual pay to cover a year’s worth of infant child care.
Newser
April 28, 2025
There appear to be two main goals behind the Trump administration’s attack on federal unions. First, the president hopes to eliminate any remaining pockets of independence inside the federal bureaucracy and to transform each agency into an extension of his personal will. “By selectively revoking the collective bargaining rights of workers represented by unions that are challenging the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers,” says Margaret Poydock, senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, “this executive order is also a direct assault on the principles of democracy and the rule of law.” To the president, unions represent a threat — not just to his policies, but to his broader goal of using state power for political payback.
Truthdig
April 28, 2025
“A 20-percentage point increase in the effective tariff rate on drugs would be something like a 2.4 percent increase in overall health insurance costs,” said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Not a total game-changer, but, given how expensive premiums already are, this is not small money.”
For example, Bivens said a $25,000 per year family plan would increase by $600 per year.
The Hill
April 28, 2025
The push to loosen child-labor laws predates the Trump administration. The Economic Policy Institute, in a report published this year, found since 2023, eight states have proposed eliminating permits for younger workers. The U.S. Department of Labor found that states without work permits for younger workers saw child-labor cases skyrocket.
Charlotte Business Journal
April 28, 2025
According to The Economic Policy Institute, the phrase “right to work” itself is intended to deceive and confuse: “The misleadingly named policy is designed to make it more difficult for workers to form and sustain unions and negotiate collectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
Colorado Times Recorder
April 28, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute says cutting Medicaid to pay for low taxes on the rich is a terrible trade. The institute notes Medicaid cuts that deprive children of access to health coverage could actually increase the federal budget in the long term because these children will not only be less healthy, they’ll grow up to earn less in wages, pay less in taxes and be more likely to receive other public benefits.
WyoFile
April 28, 2025