At 10.2%, October’s unemployment is a wake-up call
November 6, 2009
Pace of job loss slows in October, but unemployment keeps rising. Read More

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Double-digit unemploymentThe jobless rate rose sharply in October, surpassing 10% for the first time since 1983. |
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Mishel, Biden discuss middle class stugglesEPI co-hosted Vice President Joe Biden November 5 for a discussion of the economic challenges of America's middle class. EPI President Lawrence Mishel stressed that the middle class "has been struggling for decades." |
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Introducing EPI’s Economy TrackEPI's new Web site offers exclusive data on the recession and the jobs crisis, nationwide and state by state. |
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Job #1: Create more jobsIn response to the unemployment crisis, EPI has proposed a tax credit designed to create millions of jobs over the next two years. |
November 6, 2009
More historical context and demographic detail on the U.S. job market and October's 10.2% unemployment rate.
November 4, 2009
Research shows strong connection between racial segregation and high-risk lending.
October 30, 2009
A few important details of the legislation could determine the success -- or failure -- of the public insurance option, and reform in general.
October 29, 2009
A multitude of evidence makes clear that most of GDP's third quarter growth can be traced to the Recovery Act, and that the long-term health of the economy is going to depend on pushing forward—not pulling back—with even more stimulus measures.
October 29, 2009
A new Policy Memo proposes several options to improve the quality and integrity of the data reported to Recovery.gov by federal contractors receiving Recovery Act funding.
October 27, 2009
A new EPI report shows that employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) has declined every year since 2000, currently leaving 45.7 million people under 65 without any coverage and estimates suggest another 10 million people will be without ESI by 2010 unless the economy makes an unpredicted swift rebound or there is large-scale health reform.
October 23, 2009
This review of the current evidence finds that there is still a need to better understand how schools can support and enhance the work of the teachers who staff them.
October 22, 2009
Deficit spending, when directed toward positive investments such as infrastructure and high-quality education, can generate important returns for future generations.
November 6, 2009
Pace of job loss slows in October, but unemployment keeps rising. Read More
November 6, 2009
EPI President Lawrence Mishel says October's unemployment rate should send an alarm that more help is needed. Read More
November 5, 2009
During a recent discussion with Vice President Joe Biden about the economic challenges of the middle class, EPI President Lawrence Mishel explained how economic policies had left so many people squeezed. Read More
November 3, 2009
EPI's Research and Policy Director John Irons addressed the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board November 2 on ways that a simpler, fairer tax policy could help promote economic growth. But he stressed that tax policy was not the only tool for doing so. Read More
November 2, 2009
EPI's new Web site offers exclusive data on the recession and the jobs crisis, nationwide and state by state. Read More
October 29, 2009
The economy’s newfound growth relies almost totally on the Recovery Act. And that’s just fine. Read More
October 28, 2009
The authors of an EPI book that proposes a new system for tying teacher pay to performance recently spoke on a panel at EPI about the benefits and challenges of the four-tiered pay structure they recommend. Read More
October 26, 2009
In an October 23 editorial for National Public Radio, EPI President Lawrence Mishel praised the Obama administration's plan to limit executive pay at firms that received bailout funds. Read More
One in six workers cannot find the amount of work they want. Read More
November 6, 9:21am
Unemployment rose dramatically to 10.2% in October, the highest rate since March of 1983, and 190,000 payroll jobs were lost. This is in spite of the fact that the economy is now growing.
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has stopped the free-fall, but the scale of economic decline has been so large that it has not been enough to prevent rising unemployment. Today’s unemployment numbers are a wake-up call. Our leaders need to authorize substantial additional spending for relief and job creation in order to prevent unemployment from remaining elevated for years to come,” said EPI economist Heidi Shierholz.
“Unemployment has now exceeded what some thought would be the peak. With such a huge fire we need every hose we can find to put it out,” said EPI’s president Lawrence Mishel.
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