Media clips

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• Utah advocate says labor trafficking getting more attention, more victims stepping forward

  In a 2022 report, the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute said change is needed to the H-2B visa program to protect workers from abuses. “Department of Labor data show that nearly $1.8 billion was stolen from workers employed in the main H-2B industries (which includes both U.S. and migrant workers) between 2000 and 2021,” it reads.

  KSL.com February 9, 2024
• ‘Everybody has eyes on Newton’: The teachers strike is over, but more fights are on the horizon

  Data from the Economic Policy Institute shows average weekly wages for teachers fell nearly 9 percent, adjusted for inflation, from 2021 to 2022, while wages for other college graduates kept pace. That means the pay gap widened: Teachers in Massachusetts now earn more than 20 percent less than workers with similar education levels.

  Boston Globe February 9, 2024
• How to Comply with the New DOL Independent Contractor Rule

  Research from the Economic Policy Institute highlights the extent of the issues:

  • If classified as an independent contractor, a typical construction worker loses over $16,729 each year in salary and benefits. That’s compared to their potential earnings and employment rights if they were classified as an employee.
  JD Supra February 9, 2024
• Education coalition urges lawmakers to increase ‘remarkably uncompetitive’ teacher wages

  The average teacher salary in Virginia was just over $61,000 last year, ranking at No. 22 nationally. The average weekly wage rate for Virginia teachers is the third least competitive rate in the country when compared to other similarly educated professions, according to an Economic Policy Institute report from last year.

  Daily Press February 9, 2024
• Burritos and Big Macs to Cost More in California as Pay Rises

  Few states or municipal areas have raised the minimum wage for workers to the degree that California is poised to do for fast-food employees. Localities typically increase minimum wages by 12% to 15% a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which studies wage increases. 

  The Wall Street Journal February 9, 2024
• Black voters stood with Biden in 2020. Four years later, he needs their help again

  Black unemployment reached a record low of 4.7% in April 2023 and real wages – earnings adjusted for inflation – have risen. Between 2019 and 2022, the last two years of the Trump administration and the first two years of the Biden administration, real wage growth grew the most for workers in the bottom 10th-percentile, according to a March 2023 report from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

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  Valerie Wilson, the director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, said part of voters’ dissatisfaction with the economy may come from sticker shock over high prices.

  But those feelings, particularly in the Black community, may also be a response to long-standing racial disparities.

  “Inequality isn’t a new thing, it hasn’t gone away,” Wilson said.

  CNN February 9, 2024
• Rental markets are softening, but half of U.S. tenants spend more than they can afford, Harvard report finds

  Renter households with annual incomes below $30,000 had a record-low median residual income of $310 a month in 2022, the Harvard study found. For perspective, a single-person household in even the most affordable counties need about $2,000 a month for non-housing needs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  CNBC February 9, 2024
• The Balance Of Power Has Shifted Toward Employers—What This Means For Workers

  As another sign of dominating employer power, a 2023 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that the amount of company profits flowing to employees has been declining for decades.

  Forbes February 9, 2024
• The unemployment rate of Black men rose in January, underscoring continued inequality in labor market

  Though the uptick in the unemployment rate for Black men is something to monitor, it can be more indicative of an anomaly in December’s low data, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. January’s 5.3% rate comes basically in line with the average 2023 month, while December’s 4.6% was the lowest level seen in the year.

  …

  “A better economy absolutely can help historically disadvantaged groups more because they’re the ones that are often left out and are slow to recover in weaker times,” Gould said. “Full employment is definitely sort of a requirement for many historically marginalized groups to be able to see positive impact in the labor market, but it’s not the only thing.”

  CNBC February 9, 2024
• The Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of white workers. Here’s why

  “There is no other relationship in the labor market that is nearly this consistent and stable,” Valerie Wilson, the director of a program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told ABC News.

  “Employment equity is essential to racial and economic justice because work is essential,” Wilson added. “It’s people’s ability to provide for themselves and their families.”

  ABC News February 9, 2024