Yet, while the workforce has grown over the last four decades, Wage and Hour’s team of investigators has shrunk from a high of 1,232 in 1978 to 810 at the end of last year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
American Prospect
September 1, 2023
The push to strengthen the enforcement of labor laws comes on the heels of a push by lawmakers in some states to loosen child labor regulations amid high demand for workers. In the past two years, at least 10 states have introduced or passed laws that ease workplace protections for minors, according to a March report published by the Economic Policy Institute. Mississippi was not among those states.
Associated Press
September 1, 2023
Some experts speculate that the transition to EV could cause massive job losses. The Economic Policy Institute put out a report in September 2021 estimating that it could cost roughly 75,000 U.S. auto industry jobs by 2030, but could also create 150,000 if subsidies were provided to spur domestic production.
In These Times
September 1, 2023
Guests Today: Quincy Krosby of LPL Financial, Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute, Michael Lewis of Truist Securities, Steven Meier, New York City Retirement System CIO, Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth, Kevin Kelly, Kelly ETFS CEO, Nancy Tengler of Laffer Tengler Investments, Alan Binder of Princeton University, Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research and Nick Bunker of Indeed.
Bloomberg TV
September 1, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute claims employers routinely underpay farm workers, but federal investigations into this problem have dropped to an all-time low thanks to funding and staffing constraints.
Since 2000, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, with only 810 investigators to protect 165 million workers, has seen investigations drop by more than 60%.
Agribusiness
September 1, 2023
As the Economic Policy Institute has explained, the FLSA mandates that the DOL set the salary level below which workers qualify for overtime pay –– a hugely important metric, because a too-low threshold that does not account for inflation contributes to wage stagnation for workers
On Labor
September 1, 2023
Under the proposed rules, 27% of full-time salaried workers would get overtime, the Department of Labor estimated.3 As of 2019, 15% were eligible, down from 60% in 1975, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.
Investopedia
September 1, 2023
Wage growth has been particularly strong for low-paid workers since March 2020, when the pandemic shut down the U.S. economy, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. Because of government stimulus such as expanded unemployment benefits, low-paid workers had a stronger safety net as they looked for better-paying jobs. As a result, many employers have boosted pay during the past three years.
Despite those gains, millions of workers are still struggling to pay the bills, with almost 4 in 10 Americans recently telling the U.S. Census that they were having difficulties meeting their household expenses. Although though pay increase are staying ahead of inflation this year, low- and middle-wage workers have generally not kept up with the cost of living over the prior four decades, according to EPI research.
“Low and middle-wage workers continue to struggle to make ends meet, even thought there have been some gains that we’d love to see continue for lower wage workers,” Gould told CBS MoneyWatch. “Many people have seen very little increase in the last five decades.”
CBS Moneywatch
September 1, 2023
While the drop in job openings was significant, the reduction is due to little turnover, said Elise Gould, a senior economist at The Economic Policy Institute. The elevated amount of job openings observed in the past few years was not necessarily signaling an overheated job market, but rather a higher rate of “churn” as people quit and found new jobs at a faster rate, she said.
However, as that churn declines, so will the number of job openings.
“It’s not because things are necessarily contracting, it’s just normalizing somewhat,” she said of the labor market.
CNBC
September 1, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the gender pay gap amounts to over $530,000 in lifetime lost wages for an average female worker. But, that number gets far more dramatic when you consider the average female with a college education. She loses nearly $800,000 of income across her career.
Motley Fool
September 1, 2023