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☆ Why so many men in the US have stopped working
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

AdvertisementIt could be all about recessionsSince the 1950s, whenever the US economy fell into a recession, the rate of working men tended to suffer a lasting blow. AdvertisementWhy have recessions appeared to have such a lasting impact on working men? The strong recovery of men working after the pandemic recession could be due to the unique nature of this downturn — which tanked an otherwise healthy economy. And of course, some lucky prime-age men aren't working because they've had a lot of financial success — and already retired. Deciphering how much these explanations have fueled the decline of working men could be worthy of further explanation, the economists said.

Persons: —, It's, Abigail Wozniak, Wozniak, David Autor, There's, Jason Furman, Barack Obama's, Elise Gould, Gould, aren't, we've, John M, Coglianese, they've Organizations: Service, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington Post, of Labor Statistics, San Francisco Fed, BLS, Economic, Economic Policy Institute, Federal Reserve

☆ Why a $100,000 income no longer buys the American Dream in most places
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Charlotte Morabito | In Charlottemorabito | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"The benchmark of a six-figure salary used to be the gold standard income," Sabrina Romanoff, a clinical psychologist, told CNBC. "It represented the tipping point of finally earning a disposable income and building savings and spending based on your wants, not just your needs." "It becomes increasingly hard for many families to be able to attain that sort of middle-class lifestyle, that American Dream," Gould said. Consumers using the popular 50-30-20 budget guideline aim to spend 50% of their income on essential expenses, with another 30% for discretionary spending and the remaining 20% for savings. Using that framework, GoBankingRates found that all 50 states require more than a $100,000 annual income, according to the report, with 38 states needing more than $140,000.

Persons: Sabrina Romanoff, haven't, Elise Gould, Gould, GoBankingRates, Jason Reginato Organizations: CNBC, SurveyMonkey, Economic Policy Institute, Consumers

☆ Unemployment rate among Black Americans jumped in March, contrasting overall trends
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Lindsey Nicholson | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesThe unemployment rate among Black Americans jumped in March, according to data released Friday by the Department of Labor. That's higher than the overall unemployment rate, which edged lower to 3.8% last month, as well as the 3.4% jobless rate for white Americans, which held steady from February. When accounting for gender, the unemployment rate for Black women aged 20 or older spiked to 5.6%, a big increase from the 4.4% rate in February. Gould pointed out that the unemployment rate for Black Americans has been steadily increasing since December. For Black women, the rate ticked lower to 63% from 63.4%, while it inched down to 69.6% from 69.8% among Black men.

Persons: Lindsey Nicholson, Black, Elise Gould, Gould Organizations: Universal, Getty, Black, Department of Labor, Economic, Institute Locations: Queens , New York

☆ The unemployment rate of Black men rose in January, underscoring continued inequality in labor market
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

These workers had the highest unemployment rate when breaking down Black, Hispanic and white workers by gender. By comparison, white men saw a jobless rate of just 3.3% in January, holding steady from December. The overall unemployment rate was unchanged from December at 3.7%. This underscores the impact of job losses among Black men, especially considering the fact that the rate for Black women was unchanged between December and January at 4.8%. The tight labor market experienced during the pandemic helped close the gap in work-related opportunities among Black and white men, she said.

Persons: Elise Gould, Gould, it's Organizations: Fs, Getty, Labor Department, Economic, Institute

☆ ‘Positive’ labor market data can still feel awful for workers, job seekers. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.6 million, remaining at a rate of 1% for the fourth consecutive month. In November, the hires rate fell to 3.5%, the lowest rate since 2014 outside of the Covid-19 pandemic recession. For all of 2023, the hires rate averaged 3.8%, making it only the 11th best year out of 23, she said. There were more job openings a few years ago because of the high turnover. From October to November, job opening rates decreased in four states, increased in two and were little changed in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Persons: Julia Pollak, Pollak, Elise Gould, Gould, Bustamante Organizations: Getty, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor, Economic Policy Institute, Employers, District of Columbia, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: Montana, Arizona, Oregon, California, Connecticut

☆ Opinion: Our possibly short national nightmare
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,” President Gerald Ford said. “Our campaign is the last best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare,” the former UN ambassador said. If not, it won’t be as protracted a “national nightmare” as the two-year-long Watergate scandal that put Gerald Ford in the Oval Office. Though, depending on your point of view, the real nightmare could begin after the swearing-in. Yet, John Avlon wrote, Trump and some members of the House GOP, want to tank an emerging compromise in the Senate that would couple border security measures with aid to Ukraine.

Persons: CNN —, Richard Nixon, “, Gerald Ford, Ford, Gerald Ford’s, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Clay Jones, we’ll, Haley, MAGA, ”, Frida Ghitis, Trump, ” Haley, ” Trump, Patrick T, Brown, Daniel McCarthy isn’t, Donald Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, ” Nick Anderson, Biden isn’t, Dean Phillips, Cupp, Biden, ” Dana Summers, Karen Finney, Robert E, Lee, ” Finney, ’, Keith Magee, Julian Zelizer, Trump Samuel L, Adams, King David Border, Adolf Hitler, “ Mein, Paul Moses, Edward Alsworth Ross, Moses, Ross, … ”, — Hitler’s, It’s, who’ve, John Avlon, Scott Stantis, Mike Johnson, Alice Driver, Greg Abbott’s, Jean Carroll, Bill Bramhall, News Trump, Carroll, Danielle Campoamor, “ Carroll, —, she’s, Shawn Crowley, Robert C, Gottlieb, ” “, Jack Ohman, Gerald Auten, David Splinter, Jordan McGillis, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, McGillis, Melissa Kearney, ” Elise Gould, Josh Bivens, ” Elisabeth Kendall, Peter Bergen, ” Kendall, Sheena McKenzie, Izzeldin Abuelaish, Peter Rutland, Israel ’, Nafees Hamid, Walt Handelsman, Sara Stewart, Katherine Heigl, Jill Filipovic, Jeremy Allen White, J, Chen, Suzanne Nossel, Jade McGlynn, Holly Thomas, Estee Lauder, mascara, don’t, ” Thomas Organizations: CNN, Netflix, Trump, Biden, UN, New, Republican, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, GOP, Democratic, New Hampshire, Agency, Aggression, CNN Town Hall, American Sociological Association, ”, ified GOP, Texas Gov, News, Brookings, Social, Administration, US, Cambridge University’s Girton College, Wesleyan University, Palestine, Times Locations: Republic, Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota, New, Virginia, North Carolina, mealtimes, curriculums, America, Ukraine, New York, Manhattan, Yemeni, Red, Gaza, Israel, Americas

For the bottom 40% by income that means a smaller slice of the pie even as their net worth has risen at the swiftest pace in years. said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank focused on labor issues. The newest data suggest that trends of higher wealth and income concentration survived pretty much intact. Yet Dynan noted that the rise in wealth over that period was 30% for families in the 80th to 99th income percentiles and more than 40% for the top 1%. Reuters GraphicsOLD TRENDS HOLD FASTThe Fed's quarterly data on wealth distribution estimates asset holdings and liabilities across racial, educational, age and income groups, and their shares of national totals.

Persons: Elise Gould, They've, Biden, Karen Dynan, Dynan, Howard Schneider, Dan Burns, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S . Census Bureau, Economic Policy Institute, United Auto Workers, Harvard University, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington

☆ Hispanic unemployment rate declines in September
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis News | Getty ImagesThe U.S. unemployment rate held steady in September, but ticked down among Hispanic workers, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%, and came in slightly ahead of a 3.7% forecast. Broken down, it dipped to 4.3% from 4.4% among Hispanic women and held steady at 4.3% for Hispanic men. However, it does mark a stark from the depths of the pandemic when the group experienced the highest unemployment rate, according to Gould. Among Black men, the unemployment rate increased to 5.6% from 5%, and fell to 4.5% from 4.7% among Black women.

Persons: Andrew Lichtenstein, September's nonfarm, Dow Jones, Michelle Holder, Elise Gould, Gould Organizations: Brooklyn Puerto Rico Day, Corbis, U.S . Labor Department, John Jay College, Economic Policy Institute Locations: Bushwick, Brooklyn , New York, New York

☆ 5 million kids fell into poverty last year after Congress cut off Biden's monthly checks to parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

That's after Congress ended monthly checks to parents as part of the expanded child tax credit. The poverty rate for all people also increased from where it stood in 2021. Refundable tax credits like payments from the expanded child tax credit helped keep millions of Americans out of poverty in 2021. The SPM child poverty rate of those under 18 soared from the record low, starting with data from 2009, of 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022. "The child poverty rate in 2022 would have been about 8.4 percent rather than 12.4 percent."

Persons: That's, —, Melissa Boteach, Institute's Elise Gould, Ismael Cid, Martinez, Biden Organizations: Service, Census Bureau, Child Tax, CTC, National Women's Law, Social Security, SNAP, Economic Advisers, CEA, Budget Locations: That's, Wall, Silicon

☆ Black unemployment rate declines in August, even as it rose across the board
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The unemployment rate for Black workers slipped in August, bucking the broader trend of a higher overall jobless rate. The overall unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8% last month, the highest since February 2022. The jobless rate declined for Black workers, sliding to 5.3% in August, compared to 5.8% in July. When accounting for gender, the unemployment rate for Black men age 20 and older came down to 5%, a decline from the 5.3% rate in July. "I am relieved that the Black unemployment rate is coming down; it had been a little elevated a couple of months earlier," said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

Persons: —, Elise Gould Organizations: Economic, Institute

☆ The job market shows signs of ‘normalizing,' labor economist says — here’s what that means for workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Job openings and layoffs dropped slightly for another consecutive month in July, according to government data released on Tuesday. The number of job openings edged down to 8.8 million in July, dropping from 9.58 million in June, reported the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. While the drop in job openings was significant, the reduction is due to little turnover, said Elise Gould, a senior economist at The Economic Policy Institute. However, as that churn declines, so will the number of job openings. "It's not because things are necessarily contracting, it's just normalizing somewhat," she said of the labor market.

Persons: Quits, Elise Gould Organizations: U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor, Economic Policy Institute, Finance

☆ The Racial Wage Gap Is Shrinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the early 2000s, the wage gap between Black and white workers in the U.S. was as large as it had been in 1950. That is a shocking statistic and a sign of the country’s deep racial inequality. Over the past five years, however, the story has changed somewhat: The wage gap, though still enormous, has shrunk. In today’s newsletter — on Juneteenth — I’ll try to explain why the gap has narrowed and what would have to happen for it to narrow more. After all, even with the recent progress, the median Black worker makes 21 percent less than the median white worker.

Persons: ” Elise Gould, — I’ll Organizations: Economic Policy Institute Locations: U.S

☆ A ‘pleasant’ surprise: Strong job numbers, low layoffs show no ‘major indicators’ of a recession, economists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jennifer Liu | In Jljenniferliu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Job openings were up and layoffs were down in April, shutting down fears that a recent rise in job cuts could be the start of a growing trend. Openings increased to 10.1 million last month, up from 9.6 million in March, according to the Department of Labor's latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover report. Opportunities are growing across retail trade; health care and social assistance; and transportation, warehousing and utilities. And 6.1 million people were hired into new jobs, on par with the previous month. It's still a favorable job market to applicants and workers, she says, with "very little to indicate the labor market is cooling off."

Persons: Elise Gould Organizations: Department, Labor, Economic, Institute, CNBC

☆ Pay for low-wage workers grew 'tremendously fast' in the last 3 years—but experts don't think it'll last
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's the biggest hike they've seen in decades as measured by business cycles, which are periods of economic growth followed by a contraction and possible recession. "This finding really popped out at me that low wage workers saw this tremendously fast wage growth over the last three years," says Elise Gould, senior economist at EPI and co-author of the report. These were especially crucial for those in low wage industries like leisure hospitality that were hit the hardest. When jobs eventually did come back, workers looked for the best offers they could find, and otherwise "demanded more." The pool of applicants was smallerThe pool of workers seeking out low-wage jobs also got smaller during the pandemic, giving those remaining more leverage.

☆ Low-wage workers got big raises during the pandemic. Now that's coming to an end.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute analyzes wage growth from 2019 to 2022. Researchers found that the lowest-earners saw the highest real wage growth out of the groups analyzed. That growing pay was due to pandemic policy and need for workers, but those policies have ended. EPI looked at how the real wage growth of 9.0% for the lowest-paid workers compared to earlier business cycles and recessions. While it might sound counterintuitive that job losses lead to higher wages, EPI identifies this phenomenon as something called "severed monopsony."

☆ As Social Security reform talks heat up, changes to the retirement age, payroll tax may be on the table
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A recent Congressional Budget Office report projected Social Security's combined funds may run out in 2033, two years sooner than the Social Security actuaries estimated last year. Raising retirement age may be a 20% benefit cutThe Social Security full retirement age is gradually changing to 67, based on changes enacted in 1983. Lawmakers are considering raising the full retirement age again to age 70. Current beneficiaries and near retirees would likely be spared from any retirement age changes. Warren and Sanders are calling for reapplying the Social Security payroll tax to income over $250,000, while also taxing certain business and investment income at 12.4%.

☆ Report says Americans are half as likely to be on vacation now as they were in the 80s, but why?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Washington Post analyzed vacation data over decades to find out why Americans take vacation less often than they used to. Many workers have PTO, personal days, and sick days lumped into the same pool of time. Blue-collar workers, such as construction workers, are the least likely to be on paid vacation, while teachers are the most likely to take time off. Older and more educated workers also are more likely to be on vacation, according to the Post. Also, workers' paid time off plans increasingly lump vacation, sick, and personal days into one category, the Post reported.

☆ U.S. unemployment rate falls in December, but rises for Black women, Hispanic men
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Spencer Platt | Getty ImagesThe U.S. unemployment rate declined overall in December, but rose for Black women and Hispanic men, according to the latest nonfarm payrolls report. Black women saw unemployment increased to 5.5% last month, up 0.3 percentage points from 5.2% in November, data from the Labor Department showed Friday. Overall, Black employment held steady at 5.7%, while the unemployment rate for Black men actually declined to 5.1% from 5.4% last month. The overall unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0%. And it's really disaffecting Black women and Latinx men," Holder added.

☆ The lowest-earning Americans and the middle class got a pay cut in 2021, while the richest saw the biggest wage growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The bottom 90% of workers actually saw their wages decline in 2021, as the top 1% saw average wages grow. A new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute looks at wage growth in 2021, using annual earnings from the Social Security Administration. They found that the top 1% saw average real wages grow 9.4% from 2020 to 2021, while the bottom 90% saw wages decline ever so slightly by 0.2%. "The top 1% now amasses a record share of total earnings, while the bottom 90% share of earnings has hit a historic low." The bottom 90% saw a much smaller increase of 28.7% based on averages in 2021 dollars — from $28,415 in 1979 to $36,571 in 2021.

☆ Your job is probably safe, even in a recession. Employees are going to have the upper hand for years.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Declining immigration and an aging population could cause the labor shortage to continue in the years ahead. And the labor shortage may only get worse in the years ahead. Those slowdowns have already contributed to the current labor shortage, and will continue to do so for years to come. "But it's happening very slowly, and I don't think it explains what is particularly going on in the labor market right now." A steady decline in the US' working age population might not only create problems for businesses looking to grow.

☆ Everyone's been wrong about inflation, and it's costing workers in salary negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Inflation eased in October, but it stayed well ahead of most workers' year-over-year pay increases. While American workers are experiencing the strongest wage growth in many years, fueled by strong demand for labor, inflation has continued to overpower pay gains for most workers. Average hourly earnings, for instance, rose 4.7% in October, continuing to trail even the slower inflation rate. Several things have held back workers in their salary negotiations, including the decline of unions, stagnant minimum wages, globalization, and perhaps even some corporate greed. With demand for labor so high, some experts have wondered why Americans' wages haven't grown by even more.

☆ Rents are starting to drop, but the way we measure inflation means that we could still end up in a nasty recession next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rent prices are falling across the country. It could be a lifesaver for not only Americans' bank accounts but also the entire US economy as a recession looms. The issue is that it takes time for lower rent prices to filter into the consumer-price index and other widely watched measures of inflation. "The faster those things show up in consumer-price inflation, the faster the inflation steps down, the sooner the Fed will back off." Sahm said the Fed was well aware of the way rent inflation is measured, adding that it "knows this data better than anyone in the world."

☆ The US is adding millionaires at the fastest rate this century while the 'quiet fleecing' of American workers' pay continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

It's a signal of the "quiet fleecing" of the American worker that's been keeping wages down for decades. "Those trends in hourly wage growth have profound consequences for American living standards and how well people in this country are able to make ends meet. "Quiet fleecing" means lower wages for Americans while the millionaires thriveFor workers, "quiet fleecing" has resulted in decades of wages that haven't kept up with the rising costs of healthcare, housing, and food. A recession could make "quiet fleecing" worseThis inequality could be among the reasons some Americans are "quiet quitting," "acting their wage," or joining the Great Resignation. The consequences could be inflicting an economic downturn of an unnecessary scale, hurting working workers, and ultimately making "quiet fleecing" and inequality worse.

☆ Prices are set to fall for homes, cars, and furniture. It's a sign the Fed may not need to risk a recession that punishes job seekers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some economists say that means the Federal Reserve doesn't need to squash jobs to cool inflation. Cooling prices might provide less reason for the Federal Reserve to continue its bold campaign to raise interest rates and slow the economy. It did just that on Wednesday, increasing interest rates by another 0.75% to make borrowing more expensive and squash demand. "Will raising interest rates lead to more oil, lower prices of oil, more food, lower prices of food?" "The real worry in my mind is," he added, "will they increase interest rates too high, too fast, too far?"

☆ 'Quiet fleecing' is why you're getting paid less and everyone's talking about quiet quitting and the Great Resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Since the 1970s, US wage growth has stalled, with the top 1% seeing most of the gains. It's resulted in a "quiet fleecing" of the American worker, according to data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute. Coined by the Economic Policy Institute, "quiet fleecing" describes decades of stagnant wage growth in the US despite rising productivity and costs of living. In theory, workers' wages rise in tandem with their productivity, or the output they provide to a company. It could be why more workers are getting vocal about quiet quitting, "acting their wage," or joining the Great Resignation.

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