According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, waves of automation and digital transformation have added more than 70 million net new jobs to the U.S. economy since 1980. Yet productivity has grown 2.7 times more than average compensation (wages and benefits) for production and nonsupervisory workers since 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This group represents roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce.
Time Magazine
April 6, 2026
But women still earn less in the workplace. The gender gap narrowed slightly in recent years but widened again in 2025, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Controlling for socioeconomic factors, women earned 18.6% less than men.
USA Today
April 6, 2026
Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute said job-wise, he’s most concerned right now about people who work in industries fueled by discretionary spending.
“Obvious ones are like restaurants, arts, entertainment, some travel,” he said. “That’s where people have the most ability to quickly adjust their spending, and those are also industries that are pretty quick to lay people off as soon as that spending dries up a little bit.”
Marketplace
April 6, 2026
Real wages declined 0.3% for low-income workers last year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a reversal from post-pandemic trends when low- and …
Fortune
April 6, 2026
The U.S. Senate business report also found that job creation is being impacted, citing an Economic Policy Institute paper which found that, if the administration reached its 4 million deportation goal, there would be 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants and 2.6 million fewer employed U.S. citizens.
New Bedford Light (Massachusetts)
April 6, 2026
To that point, a 2024 Economic Policy Institute Report, “The Rise of the ‘Union Curious,’ ” delved into data collected by the Worker Empowerment Research Network and found that 45% of workers under 30 are “union curious,” meaning they don’t necessarily favor or oppose unions, but they are open to considering third-party representation.
SHRM
April 6, 2026
Similarly, a 2025 Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report found that childcare for one infant is more expensive than public college tuition in 38 states.
“Childcare is unaffordable for working families everywhere in the country, and it’s even more unattainable for minimum-wage workers and the very workers that administer childcare,” EPI research assistant Katherine deCourcy said in a press release. “This isn’t inevitable—it is a policy choice. Federal and state policymakers can and should act to make childcare more affordable, and ensure that childcare workers can afford the same quality of care for their own children.”
Fast Company
April 6, 2026
A recent Economic Policy Institute report found that achieving historically normal rates of economic growth will be nearly impossible without sustained … [paywall].
Barron’s
April 6, 2026
The cost of infant care in Indiana is $1,206 per month, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. Foster families get a $28 per day base rate to take an infant.
WFYI
April 6, 2026
The proposal arrives against a labor market backdrop that the DOL painted in sharp terms. The agency cited Federal Reserve Bank of New York data showing unemployment rates of 7.5 percent for recent computer science graduates and underemployment rates exceeding 17 percent. It referenced ADP payroll figures showing that employment of software developers – the single largest occupational category in the H-1B system – was lower in 2024 than it was in 2018. And it pointed to a 2023 Economic Policy Institute study finding that the top 30 H-1B employers laid off at least 85,000 workers in 2022 and early 2023 while simultaneously hiring 34,000 H-1B workers.
Human Resources Director Magazine
April 6, 2026