Media clips

• Obama expands OPT visa program for foreign students

  Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, said he isn’t overly concerned that the number of eligible OPT courses of study was increased.

  He said his primary concern is “the fact that none of [the eligible fields] were determined based on demonstrated labor market shortages, and that there are no wage protections for OPT workers, which allows employers to undercut wages paid to US workers.”

  “In a few of these fields, there may be shortages, but in many others, it’s unlikely that we’re anywhere near full employment,” said Costa. “But the government hasn’t taken the time to check.”

  Computerworld June 4, 2012
• Slowdown Magnifies Jobs Number for Obama Race With Romney

  The economy needs to add approximately 100,000 jobs each month to keep even with population growth, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.

  Bloomberg June 1, 2012
• Survival ideas for the young unemployed

  Judging by recent reports, being a young college graduate is nothing to get excited about these days.

  Consider one study from the Economic Policy Institute, which said the unemployment rate averaged 9.4 percent from early 2011 through early 2012 for college graduates age 21 to 24. Another 19.1 percent were underemployed, which included those who worked part time but wanted full-time work. And for the next 10 to 15 years, the Class of 2012 will likely earn less than they would if they had graduated when the economy was stronger.

  Chicago Tribune June 1, 2012
• Workplace conditions are worse for many, poll finds

  “When there’s persistently high unemployment, employers don’t have to pay big wage increases or improve conditions in order to keep you,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, who has not seen the poll data. “They don’t have to give good packages to new workers when there’s a queue around the block for every job.”

  Los Angeles Times June 1, 2012
• Markets and Morals

  We already have tremendous inequality in our country: The richest 1 percent of Americans own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But we do still have a measure of equality before the law — equality in our basic dignity — and that should be priceless.

  The New York Times May 31, 2012
• The Best Way to Land a Job? It’s Still Word of Mouth

  The college commencement speeches are mostly over. The diplomas are handed out. The parties are winding down. The deadline for repaying student loans looms. Newly minted college graduates are looking for employment, pounding their keyboards and working their mobile phones. Although the job market is slowly mending, it remains grim for young college graduates. The unemployment rate for graduates aged 21 to 24 averaged 9.4 percent over the past year (ending in March 2012), while the underemployment rate was a steep 19.1 percent, according to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute.

  Bloomberg BusinessWeek May 31, 2012
• When good jobs are available, the queue goes around the block

  Those particular jobs, most of them blue-collar jobs, are good ones by today’s standards. But they aren’t the only ones that generate line-ups out the door and down the block.

  The reason for that can be seen in the chart from the Economic Policy Institute at the top of this post. When the series began in December 2000, the ratio was what now feels like a miraculous 1.1 to 1. But that was the Clinton boom. At one point in the summer of 2009, the figure was 6.9 to 1. Clearly, there has been a lot of improvement in the ratio of job openings to job seekers. It’s now only 3.4 to 1. So the lines are shorter, but for the two-plus people standing in them who don’t get the nod, the search for employment is no less painful.

  Daily Kos May 31, 2012
• Job recovery is scant for Americans in prime working years

  During their prime years, Americans are supposed to be building careers and wealth to prepare for their retirement. Instead, as the indicator reveals, huge numbers are on the sidelines.

  “What it shows is that we are still near the bottom of a very big hole that opened in the recession,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

  The Washington Post May 31, 2012
• Why Do Asian Americans Have the Worst Long-Term Unemployment?

  Asian American’s are the best educated ethnic group in the United States, by a long shot.* Logically, that means they should have the least severe unemployment, given that more educated workers tend to have an easier time in the job market. Instead, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, the Asian community suffered from the most severe long-term joblessness of any racial demographic in 2010, during the slow, early period of the economic recovery.

  As shown in the graph below, 48.7 percent of unemployed Asian Americans had been out of a job for 27 weeks or more. Blacks were next, at 48.5 percent, followed by Whites, at 42.7 percent.

  

  The Atlantic May 31, 2012
• African American Teens At a Loss for Summer Employment Opportunities

  As the academic year ends, the number of teens looking for summer jobs increases, however, job opportunities are few and far between for underprivileged African American teens, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Poor African American teens trail Hispanic and White teens when it comes to securing a summer job by over 10%. In fact, 36% of white and 31% of Hispanic underserved teens—between the ages of 16 and 19—were able to find employment, while only 20% of Black teens in that same age bracket were as lucky. Middle-class African American teens were only slightly more likely to find work in comparison to their white counterparts.

  Black Enterprise May 30, 2012
• Profits, Not Wages, Rising in This Recovery

  “Profits recovered their pre-recession peak very quickly,” said Josh Bivens, research director for the Economic Policy Institute, which closely follows worker income trends in the U.S. “Unit profits in the corporate sector are now at a 45-year high.”

  The Fiscal Times May 30, 2012
• Democrats disagree over who should pay higher tax rates

  Rebecca Thiess of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute lobbed a harsher critique, saying Pelosi’s high-profile endorsement of the $1 million figure is indication that “the Democratic leadership is now comfortable perpetuating the notion that taxpayers earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual income deserve a tax cut.

  “Policy-wise this is definitely not something we want to see at all,” Thiess said. “The middle class has become completely lost in this debate; the conversation has now shifted to which strata of the very wealthy deserve a hefty tax cut.”

  The Hill May 30, 2012
• Wis. Sen. Johnson slams Obama for economic policy “failure”

  In the Republican weekly address, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) blamed the president for American “dependence on government.”

  “Instead of concentrating on job creation, President Obama has concentrated on growing government and increasing its control over our lives,” Johnson said. “Because of his policies, dependence on government has increased, and individual opportunity has declined.”

  At least one analysis takes issue with Senator Johnson’s statement. According to the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, government jobs have decreased by 584,000 at the federal, state and local level since June of 2009.

  CBS News May 24, 2012
• One Chart That Shows How the Great Recession Has Whacked the Young
  The economy is missing between 5 million and 6 million workers. That’s how much bigger our labor force would be if there had been no Great Recession, per the Congressional Budget Office.

  So, who are the missing five million? That’s the question Greg Ip of The Economist recently asked. The above chart from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) gives us a hint of at least part of the answer: the young.
  The Atlantic May 24, 2012
• The Commencement Address That Won’t Be Given

  Last year’s young college graduates lucky enough to land jobs had an average hourly wage of only $16.81, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute. That’s about $35,000 a year — lower than the yearly earnings of young college graduates in 2007, before the Great Recession. The typical wage of young college graduates dropped 4.6 percent between 2007 and 2011, adjusted for inflation.

  The Huffington Post May 24, 2012
• Guess who’s making $16.81 an hour?

  If you’re wondering why so many young college graduatesare living at home, you only have to look at the kind of salaries that they are earning.

  These college graduates (ages 21-24) are making an average hourly wage of $16.81 per hour, which equals a yearly salary of roughly $35,000, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

  CBS News May 24, 2012
• Hundreds Of Thousands Of Students To See Pell Grants Cut In July Due To 2011 Debt Ceiling Deal

  The bill that ended last August’s standoff over the debt ceiling — when House Republicans held the nation’s creditworthiness hostage for spending cuts — will cause hundreds of thousands of students to face reductions in their Pell Grants or to lose the grants entirely. As the San Jose Mercury News reported today, “Among those who will lose Pell Grants in the summer are at least 65,000 new college students without high school diplomas…Changes in income requirements will reduce or eliminate grants for nearly 300,000 others.” Those cuts also cost the economy 1.8 million jobs, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) is already preparing another debt ceiling showdown for this winter.

  Think Progress May 24, 2012
• Paul Ryan’s Plan To ‘Prevent European-Style Austerity’ Adds To Debt, Throws 4.1 Million Out Of Work

  Not only would Ryan’s plan add to the debt, it would also increase the number of people who are looking for a job, resulting in a net loss of 4.1 million jobs over the next two years, according to the Economic Policy Institute:

  The Ryan budget would nevertheless immediately enact aggressive spending cuts — particularly to the social safety net — which would reduce employment by 1.3 million jobs in fiscal 2013 and 2.8 million jobs in fiscal 2014, relative to current budget policies.

  Think Progress May 24, 2012
• Coming This Summer: For $24.95, George W. Bush Will Share His ‘Strategies For Economic Growth’

  That Bush believes the country needs his thoughts on how to create economic growth is laughable. After all, under his watch, “growth in investment, GDP, and employment all posted their worst performance of any post-war expansion,” while “overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967.” As the Economic Policy Institute found, “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak of that expansion (2007Q4), the U.S. economy experienced the worst economic expansion of the post-war era.”

  Think Progress May 17, 2012
• No Joke: George W. Bush Writing a Book on Economic Growth

  The Center for American Progress’s Pat Garofalo caught this little tidbit and nicely summarized why the idea of Bush writing a book on economic growth is ludicrous.

  After all, under his watch, “growth in investment, GDP, and employment all posted their worst performance of any post-war expansion,” while “overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967.” As the Economic Policy Institute found, “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak of that expansion (2007Q4), the U.S. economy experienced the worst economic expansion of the post-war era.”

  And there was the matter of the Great Recession.

  US News and World Report May 17, 2012
• State Department strengthens protections for foreign student summer workers—but not enough

  Last summer’s walkout by foreign students working for a Hershey chocolate subcontractor under the government’s Summer Work Travel program prompted an investigation by the State Department, which is responsible for overseeing the program. Recently, the State Department issued new rules for the Summer Work Travel program, including capping it at 109,000, down from a 2008 high of 152,000. Assessing the new rules, the Economic Policy Institute’s Daniel Costa and Ross Eisenbrey conclude that the rules are not perfect but are “a significant improvement and go far toward protecting the rights of U.S. and J-1 workers.”

  Daily Kos May 17, 2012
• Wages For Young Colleges Graduates Haven’t Grown In A Decade

  According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, “between 2000 and 2011, the wages of young college graduates [aged 21-24] dropped 5.4 percent (1.6 percent for men and 8.5 percent for women),” after they grew 19 percent between 1995 and 2000. As EPI noted, “young graduates who enter the labor market during periods of strength (e.g. 1995–2000) face much stronger wage prospects than young graduates who enter the labor market during periods of weakness (e.g. 2001 to the present).”

  Think Progress May 17, 2012
• Wages of young college graduates tanking during recession. (Is there room in the basement?)
  Atlanta Journal Constitution May 17, 2012
• Tepid job market still hurting recent college graduates

  Private industry employers have been slowly adding jobs for 19 months. A net gain of 130,000 jobs was reported last week for the month of April. Meanwhile, though, the public sector lost 15,000 jobs in the month, continuing a nearly four-year-old cutback trend.

  Those government job cuts have eliminated many jobs held predominantly by women and African-Americans.

  “The disproportionate share of women and African-Americans working in state and local government has translated into higher rates of job loss for both groups in these sectors,” a report by the Economic Policy Institute said.

  From 2007 to 2011, state and local governments shed about 765,000 jobs nationally. Women made up 70 percent and African-Americans 20 percent of those job losses, the institute said in a report last week.

  Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/05/15/148845/tepid-job-market-still-hurting.html#storylink=cpy
  McClatchy May 17, 2012
• Boehner Threatens To Take The Debt Limit Hostage Again

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the cuts demanded by the GOP in exchange for raising the debt limit will cost the economy 1.8 million jobs this year. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner already pushed back on Boehner’s remarks, saying, “this commitment to meet the obligations of the nation, this commitment to protect the creditworthiness of the country, is a fundamental commitment that you can never call into question or violate.”

  Think Progress May 16, 2012
• Long-term unemployed losing benefits as job picture improves

  “We’re adding jobs, but just enough to keep up with growth in the normal working-age population, not enough to start really putting the backlog of unemployed workers back to work,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, which focuses its research on low- and middle-income workers.

  MSNBC May 15, 2012
• Lawsuit: Interns provided free labor, worked menial tasks

  About half of the nation’s internships are unpaid, said Ross Eisenbrey, vice president for the Economic Policy Institute, aWashington, D.C., think tank. Internships should provide training similar to what students are offered at a school, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

  The Labor Department has received few complaints about this, a spokeswoman said.

  But Eisenbrey said that’s because most interns are afraid to complain when they’re just starting out. The institute discussed these questionable internships at a recent forum with a Labor Department regulator, who said the agency is too understaffed to adequately monitor this.

  Baltimore Sun May 15, 2012
• Geek Squad Employees Allegedly Forced To Work Off The Clock, Without Rest Periods

  Indeed, between 1979 and 2009 worker wages increased by just 10.1 percent compared to an 80 percent increase in worker productivity, according to a 2011 report by the Economic Policy Institute.

  The Huffington Post May 14, 2012
• More Than 200,000 Americans Will Lose Their Unemployment Benefits This Weekend

  There are still more than three job seekers for every available opening, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and more than 30 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for a year or more. Considering those numbers, it makes no sense to cut people off from unemployment benefits, which have ensured that millions of Americans don’t slip below the poverty line. According to the Government Accountability Office, 20 percent of those cut off from unemployment benefits by early 2010 fell into poverty.

  Think Progress May 14, 2012
• Tax Rates Have Fallen The Most For The Richest Americans

  It pays to be rich. Literally.

  Since Bill Clinton’s first term, taxes have fallen the most for the wealthiest Americans. Federal tax rates plunged 9.4 percent between 1995 and 2007 for the top 0.01 percent of households, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  The Huffington Post May 14, 2012