Sep 01 Jobs grade for August: a ‘mild disappointment’ By Paul Solman The economy added 156,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate remained largely unchanged at 4.4 percent. Continue reading
Jul 07 What can you actually learn from the monthly unemployment number? By Paul Solman The U.S. unemployment rate crawled up to 4.4 percent in June. NewsHour correspondent Paul Solman looks at what that means for the economy. Continue reading
Apr 07 The U.S. economy added a mere 98,000 jobs while the unemployment rate went down. How does that work? By Kristen Doerer The unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in March, the lowest since the Great Recession. But the U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than expected. Continue reading
Mar 10 Steady jobs growth clears the way for interest rate hike By Kristen Doerer The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7 percent. Continue reading
Feb 13 Column: Why does the Fed keep lowering its unemployment threshold instead of raising rates? By Benn Steil, Emma Smith We're nearing the threshold used to estimate how low unemployment can get before inflation rises. Will the Fed raise interest rates?… Continue reading
Feb 03 With steady job creation in January, slow wage growth still puzzles By Kristen Doerer Wage growth "has been the unfinished work of this economic recovery,” said Mark Hamrick. “It helps to explain the remaining level of dissatisfaction among Americans with the economy.”… Continue reading
Jan 12 Watch 9:49 Is Obama’s economic legacy one of missed opportunity or success? By PBS News Hour What is President Obama’s economic legacy? Did his efforts to turn the country around after the 2008 financial crisis constitute a robust recovery, or too little, too late? Economics correspondent Paul Solman assembled a panel of economic experts to discuss… Continue watching
Jan 09 The earnings gap between black and white men has barely shrunk in 30 years. Why? By Making Sen$e Editor Over the past 75 years, the racial gap in economic rank has narrowed sharply among men at the top of the earnings ladder, but changed very little among those at the middle and bottom. Continue reading
Oct 27 Watch 8:16 Why rich nations may be their own worst enemy By PBS News Hour Economist Todd Buchholz rails against what America has become: a people who want everything but aren’t willing to pay for it. In “The Price of Prosperity,” he suggests that wealthy nations such as the U.S. inflict harm on themselves, even… Continue watching
Oct 18 Watch 4:32 The economy is improving, yet these voters don’t trust the data By PBS News Hour Unemployment in the U.S. is at 5 percent, a relative low, and 10 million jobs have been created during the Obama administration. But a new survey finds that many Americans are experiencing high levels of economic anxiety, a factor that… Continue watching