Mar 05 America can be a full-employment economy once again By John Komlos How close will February's unemployment rate come to "full employment"? Not close enough, argues economist John Komlos, who believes the right to life implies a right to a job. Komlos is the author of “What Every Economics Student Needs to… Continue reading
Feb 25 These college majors will get you a well-paying job By Simone Pathe On the whole, economic conditions are looking up for college graduates. But a lot depends on what you study and the level of degree you obtain. Continue reading
Feb 06 Why a higher unemployment rate may be good news for the economy By Simone Pathe The unemployment rate increased from 5.6 to 5.7 percent in the first month of 2015, but economists greeted that as good news. Even more encouraging, the economy added 257,000 jobs in January and average hourly earnings were up 12 cents. Continue reading
Jan 30 Economy slowed in final quarter of 2014 By Simone Pathe The U.S. economy grew 2.6 percent in the last three months of 2014, more slowly than in the previous two quarters of the year. Continue reading
Jan 09 We’re adding jobs like it’s 1999, but American workers just can’t get a raise By Simone Pathe The final unemployment report of 2014, released Friday morning, ended a solid year of payroll gains. But despite December's additional 252,000 jobs and the lowest unemployment rate since 2008, wages aren't rising. In fact, average hourly earnings fell in December,… Continue reading
Dec 08 Good news for the Affordable Care Act in jobs reports By Dean Baker In the wake of November's jobs report, Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, argues that the Affordable Care Act is allowing more young parents to choose to stay at home with their kids. Continue reading
Dec 05 Watch 4:55 Revved up employment growth offers ‘meat-on-the-bone’ jobs, but mostly more minimum wage By PBS NewsHour Job growth surged last month, with more than 300,000 new positions added. Hourly wages increased, too. Is there a catch? Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss how the economy took a step in the right direction… Continue watching
Nov 07 The startling fact you, we and Paul Krugman didn’t know about the jobs report By Simone Pathe October's payroll gains were slightly lower than expected at 214,000, but average six-month gains continued to suggest a strong recovery. You might be surprised to learn, however, that those payroll gains don't just reflect full-time jobs. They also include part-time… Continue reading
Oct 23 Earning more? Thank immigrant STEM workers By Simone Pathe Even opponents of open immigration often support temporary guest workers entering the U.S. on the H1-B visa program. But do immigrants skilled in science and technology undercut wages for U.S. workers? Quite the contrary, according to a new paper from… Continue reading
Oct 07 Smart robots will take over a third of jobs by 2025, Gartner says By Joshua Barajas As industrial robots continue to acquire cognitive skills, machines will replace one in three human workers by 2025, Gartner analysts predicted Monday. Continue reading