Sep 13 Income is up, poverty is down, but neither are back at pre-recession levels By Kristen Doerer With improving incomes, 3.5 million people climbed out of poverty in 2015, pushing down the official poverty rate to 13.5 percent. Continue reading
Jul 08 After pitiful May jobs report, the U.S. adds a whopping 287,000 jobs in June By Kristen Doerer The U.S. economy added a whopping 287,000 jobs in June, giving economists and American workers something to smile about. Continue reading
Jun 20 Watch 5:40 Tough times for U.S. towns powered by fossil fuel energy jobs By PBS News Hour Plummeting fuel prices are usually considered a good thing, but in rural Wyoming -- where fossil fuels like coal employ 10 percent of the state’s private sector workforce -- they can spell disaster. For the people of Gillette, dropping coal… Continue watching
May 29 Watch 3:37 Drug tests present major hurdle for employers By PBS News Hour As the unemployment rate drops across the country, employers are running into another problem – finding potential job candidates who will take and pass drug tests. Even though the country is amid an opioid epidemic, employers say marijuana has been… Continue watching
Apr 01 Watch 2:47 News Wrap: U.S. economy gains 215,000 new jobs in March By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Friday, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly in the month of March, as more Americans looked for work amid increased hiring. Also, the death toll from a collapsed highway overpass in Kolkata, India, rose to 24,… Continue watching
Mar 14 Watch What job growth? Voters remain pessimistic about the economy By PBS News Hour This year’s election has been dominated by economic anxiety, though the nation’s unemployment rate is at its post-recession lowest and there have been six consecutive years of job growth. As a joint project of the NewsHour, American Public Media’s Marketplace… Continue watching
Feb 23 Social Security, joblessness top economic concerns for Americans By Nancy Benac and Emily Swanson, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Finally, something that polarized Americans can agree on. Ask people what economic issues will be important for the next president, and Democrats, Republicans and independents alike all put a high priority on protecting Social Security and reducing unemployment. Continue reading
Feb 05 Watch 5:32 News Wrap: Unemployment falls to 8-year low, but job growth slows By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Friday, while the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in January -- its lowest level in eight years -- the Department of Labor said that only 151,000 new jobs were added to the economy, a… Continue watching
Feb 05 Unemployment is down to 4.9 percent. So why are wages rising so slowly? By Kristen Doerer The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate inched down to 4.9 percent. Wages may have risen by 12 cents in January, but over the year, wages have only increased 2.5 percent. Continue reading
Jan 14 Why women over 50 can’t find jobs By Teresa Ghilarducci If you’re a woman above the age of 50, you might have had some difficulty finding work since 2008. Here's why. Continue reading