Mar 04 Our intractable problem: wages By Kristen Doerer The U.S. economy added 242,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent. Wages, however, fell. Continue reading
Jan 08 Wolfers on today’s unemployment numbers: ‘yabba dabba doo!’ By Kristen Doerer The U.S. economy added 292,000 jobs in December, and unemployment remained unchanged at 5.0 percent. December’s jobs report was nothing short of stellar. Continue reading
Aug 21 Appeals court reinstates wage rules for home care workers By Sam Hananel, Associated Press A federal appeals court on Friday revived Obama administration regulations that guarantee overtime and minimum wage protection to nearly 2 million home health care workers. Continue reading
May 14 Watch 6:55 Do better-paid workers equal better business? By PBS News Hour Recently, insurance company Aetna voluntarily upped its minimum wage to $16 per hour, giving roughly 6,000 of its lowest-paid employees an average raise of 11 percent. Next year, the company also plans to offer lower-cost benefits to some workers. What’s… Continue watching
Apr 04 Watch What does March’s job market slowdown mean for wage growth? By PBS News Hour There was a bright spot in Good Friday's disappointing jobs report that revealed the number of jobs added fell well below expectations: Wages, stuck for so long, are finally starting to go up. The Wall Street Journal's Eric Morath joins… Continue watching
Mar 18 Somewhere between patient and impatient, Fed looks to June rate hike By Simone Pathe At its March policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee refused to lay out a time table for raising interest rates, with Janet Yellen saying that a June rate hike is possible but not definitive. The Fed's economic forecasts, however,… Continue reading
Mar 17 Why you shouldn’t expect wages to rise any time soon By John Komlos For months, the thorn in the side of otherwise sunny jobs reports has been sluggish wage growth. As unemployment falls, wages are supposed to rise. Those expectations will likely play a role in the Fed's policy deliberations this week. But… Continue reading
Mar 06 Wages are sore spot on strong February jobs report By Simone Pathe Despite harsh winter weather, the economy added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest since mid-2008. Those are signs of a recovering labor market that the Federal Reserve might use to justify an interest rate… Continue reading
Feb 20 Will your job exist in the future, or will a robot have replaced you? By Simone Pathe In the long view of history, technological advancement unleashed by the Industrial Revolution has come to be seen as a net positive for economic development and everyone’s well-being, even those workers who initially lost their jobs. There’s reason to wonder,… Continue reading
Feb 19 White House economic report pushes for higher wages to combat stagnation By Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top economists say that even as the U.S. has managed to kick start a lasting and growing recovery, modest wage gains are far from making up for decades of paycheck stagnation for middle-class workers. Continue reading