It’s taken an unconscionably long time, however, for the Democrats to truly reckon with the post-1980 changes to the American economy. Part of their failure was intellectual, an inability to see what was actually happening to their country. More precisely, most refused to look at the evidence of that change: The Economic Policy Institute’s famous chart of the growing gap, first emerging in the late 1970s, between increases in productivity and in median wages was published in 1994, but had little to no effect on the economic policies of either the Clinton or Obama presidencies.
The American Prospect
June 8, 2026
WAILIN WONG: And I’m Wailin Wong. And it is jobs Friday. It’s the day each month where we look at the latest government jobs report and we check in with how American workers are doing.
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WONG: Yeah, and Black women in particular really felt the effects of the mass layoffs and buyouts we saw with federal workforce last year. I read an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute. That’s a think tank that advocates for low and middle income working families. And the EPI says that Black women suffered the greatest job losses in 2025. Its analysis also shows that the overall net loss was driven entirely by cuts in public sector jobs.
NPR Planet Money
June 8, 2026
“After several months of bumpy employment growth, it’s encouraging to see three months of stronger growth,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a social media post. “Given this unexpected strength, some may question the validity of the data. At this point, there are no signs that these numbers are cooked or fabricated.”
Gould noted that job growth was strongest in leisure and hospitality, state and local governments, and health care.
Sinclair Broadcast Group
June 8, 2026
The measure, which breaks with a practice approved by Congress since 1952, “is going to have a very negative impact on the lives of truly millions of people,” said Daniel Costa, director of research on immigration law and policy at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
“It’s going to complicate the lives of many people because they’re going to have to leave their jobs. If they can’t work remotely in another country, they’re likely to lose their jobs. After losing money, they may be separated from their families for at least months and, in many cases, perhaps most, for years,” he commented.
EFE
June 8, 2026
In 2019, the Economic Policy Institute projected that by 2024 more than eighty percent of private-sector nonunion workers would be bound by arbitration. Workers tend to win more often in open court than in arbitration, which is the entire point.
Overturned Substack
June 8, 2026
Research from the Economic Policy Institute found Black women earn approximately 68 cents for every dollar earned by white men, representing one of the largest wage gaps in the American workforce. Even after adjusting for education and other factors, significant inequities remain.
Michigan Chronicle
June 8, 2026
None of this is settled. The Economic Policy Institute argues the picture is more mixed, with the college wage premium flat for years and new grads still doing no worse than young workers without degrees. The degree still opens the door. It just no longer gets you through it faster than everyone else.
Dr. Randal Olson
June 8, 2026
According to data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute, it is common in the private sector for first union contract negotiations to take many years to reach completion – if they even result in a finished contract at all.
Cleveland.com
June 8, 2026
The nationwide school bus driver shortage continues ahead of another school year, but one company is helping fill the gap by addressing the need locally.
According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, the number of school bus drivers is about 10% below what it was before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The hope is to reverse this trend and encourage more people to get behind the wheel.
FOX 59 (Indiana)
June 8, 2026
Moreover, according to Washington think-tank the Economic Policy Institute, the college wage premium has been flat or falling in recent years.
The Pacific Sun
June 8, 2026