Tag: Employment
Non-Investing Manufacturers Threaten Tax Law Repeal Would Mean Even Less Investment
by Matt Sedlar , 06/11/2019
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) recently declared that any attempt to repeal Trump’s 2017 tax reform law would “strike a major blow to manufacturing jobs, wages and investments.” The organization backed the claim with data from its last quarterly survey of manufacturers, which found 66 percent of respondents stating they would consider cutting back […]
We Are Finally Seeing Wage Growth, But it Began Well Before President Trump Took Office
by Alan Barber , 02/02/2018
On the campaign trail and once in office, President Trump promised that the nation would quickly see jobs come roaring back. Of course, the country had already seen unemployment rates fall sharply before the 2016 elections reflecting the economic policies of the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve under then-Chair Janet Yellen.
Rust Belt Employment Up in August, but Job Growth Still Lags National Trend
by Alan Barber and Dean Baker , 09/18/2017
Nationwide, the state with the largest unemployment increase in August was the Rust Belt state of Indiana (0.4 percentage points). California, New Jersey, Oregon and another Rust Belt state, West Virginia, each saw a 0.3 percentage point increase in unemployment. Over the last year, Indiana and West Virginia have experienced unemployment increases of 0.9 percentage […]
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day and Differences in Pay in Driving Occupations
by Kevin Cashman , 07/31/2017
Today is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the day when a black woman’s pay catches up to the average white man’s 2016 pay, for those with high school degrees. This means that a black woman would have worked until nearly August 2017 in order to reach parity for 2016. This gap persists at all education […]
Note to Employers: the Construction Labor Market Not as Tight as Advertised
by Brian Dew and Kevin Cashman , 07/27/2017
Numerous recent news stories describe the labor market for construction jobs as excessively tight [1]. Construction employers struggle to find blue collar workers, these stories claim, and therefore are supposedly offering luxurious compensation packages to entice people to take jobs in the industry, or are forced to turn down work. These employers and journalists often […]
The Decline of Coal is Likely to Continue
by Kevin Cashman , 06/23/2017
The coal mining industry often becomes a focus in national political campaigns. The debate often hinges around whether regulations are the main reason why coal mining employment has declined versus an explanation that emphasizes increases in productivity and technology in the industry, as well as the development of cheaper sources of energy that compete with […]
Manufacturing Falls in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania in April
by Alan Barber and Dean Baker , 05/23/2017
Construction down in all rust belt states except Wisconsin
Growth in Blue Collar Jobs Slows In April
by Matt Sedlar , 05/05/2017
As noted in this month’s CEPR Jobs Byte, the national unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent in April. The establishment survey reported that the economy added 211,000 jobs. Roughly offsetting revisions to the prior two months’ job growth brings the average for the last three months to 174,000.
Highest to Lowest Share of Blue Collar Jobs By State
by Nick Buffie and Tillie McInnis , 04/10/2017
Last November, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States thanks largely to overwhelming support from working-class white voters. This has engendered a discussion about the decline of blue collar jobs in the Midwest specifically and throughout the country more broadly.
Growth in Blue Collar Jobs Continues in March
by Alan Barber , 04/07/2017
As noted in this month’s CEPR Jobs Byte, the national unemployment rate ticked down to 4.5 percent in March. Overall job growth was just 98,000 for the month. Coupled with downward revision in the last two months, the three-month job growth average was 178,000.