EPI in the news

• Letter to the editor: Act 10 and right to work haven’t worked well for Wisconsin

  And what did these laws accelerate? Wisconsin’s union membership collapsed from 17.8% in 2000 to 6.4% today. Mix calls this “freedom to choose,” but skips the wage data: Right-to-work states pay workers 6.7% less on average, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Wisconsin State Journal | September 28, 2026
• How Louisiana’s colleges are preparing students for jobs

  Studies by the Economic Policy Institute show that the class of 2026 is graduating into a labor market that has “notably weakened” in the past two years.

  NOLA.com | September 28, 2026
• Minnesota families now depend on dual incomes

  Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said slower wage growth, along with generational pressures like …[paywall]. 

  Minnesota Star Tribune | September 28, 2026
• Deployment delay

  Stat: Even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk didn’t hit the right targets to bring home any money from his $158 billion pay package last year, overall CEO pay in the US still rose 14%. CEOs made 325 times as much as the average annual worker. (Economic Policy Institute)

  HR Brew | September 28, 2026
• Entry-level jobs were actually secret apprenticeships all along, and AI just cut the subsidy

  The Economic Policy Institute adds that young workers without college degrees, whose occupations score negative on AI exposure, also saw their unemployment rate rise at a similar pace over the same period. If AI is the culprit in this employment decline, then why are unexposed workers suffering too?

  Fortune | September 28, 2026
• Report: ICE Operations Detain 13,000 in Rio Grande Valley, Costing Region $180 Million and Straining Key Sectors

  The financial burden on local taxpayers is also mounting. Citing data from the Economic Policy Institute, the report notes that Rio Grande Valley taxpayers are projected to contribute over $300 million in federal taxes toward funding federal immigration enforcement operations.

  Rio Grande Guardian | September 28, 2026
• 7th District Q&A finds candidates sharply divided on what oversight of the president should look like

  Multiple sources including MIT’s Living Wage Calculator for Virginia, and the nonpartisan nonprofit Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Map have also shown that wages in Virginia are growing slower than the cost of living.

  Charlottesville Tomorrow | September 28, 2026

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