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Labor & Economic News Blog

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Merger lets Delta add 500 jobs to Atlanta

Merger lets Delta add 500 jobs to Atlanta
Delta Air Lines is adding as many as 500 jobs in Atlanta as a result of its merger with Northwest Airlines, even as it cuts thousands of positions throughout its system through buyouts. The additional jobs include employees moving from Northwest's Minnesota headquarters and new hires,

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

ALPA brings AirTran pilots under its wing

ALPA brings AirTran pilots under its wing
AirTran Airways pilots have been cleared to join the Air Line Pilots Association, a move that will make AirTran the largest low-cost carrier whose pilots are represented by the union. ALPA hopes the expansion will help strengthen organized labor's hand as it tries to gain leverage in negotiations with airline management teams.

 

Monday, April 27, 2009

What the Policy Community Should Know About Corporate Compliance, Ethics, and Misdeeds

What the Policy Community Should Know About Corporate Compliance, Ethics, and Misdeeds
Improving corporate compliance, ethics, and oversight has been a significant policy goal for the U.S. government for decades, and made more salient by the collapse of financial markets in late 2008. On March 5, 2009, RAND convened a conference in Washington, D.C., on the role and perspectives of corporate chief ethics and compliance officers in the detection and prevention of corporate misdeeds.

 

Friday, April 24, 2009

Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit and Banking Among Low-Income Households

Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit and Banking Among Low-Income Households
Event Information:
May 04, 2009, 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
On May 4, the Brookings Institution will host a discussion on how recommendations from Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit, and Banking among Low-Income Households- a recently released book edited by Rebecca M. Blank and Michael S. Barr- might be realized in this current economic environment.

 

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Saving Detroit, and Mexican Jobs

Saving Detroit, and Mexican Jobs
The main justification for having taxpayers prop up the auto industry is to protect American jobs. But a report from a labor-oriented think tank says it is Mexican workers who should be grateful.

 

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected
The number of people claiming jobless benefits for more than a week rose to 6.13 million, setting a record for the 12th straight week.

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Among college-educated, African Americans hardest hit by unemployment

Among college-educated, African Americans hardest hit by unemployment
Fifteen months into a deep recession, college-educated white workers still had a relatively low unemployment rate of 3.8% in March of this year. The same could not be said for African Americans with four-year degrees.

 

What the 2008 Stock Market Crash Means for Retirement Security

What the 2008 Stock Market Crash Means for Retirement Security
The one-third drop in the S&P 500 index between year-end 2007 and 2008 raises concerns about retirement security since Americans now hold more equities through their retirement plans. Those near retirement will fare the worst because they have no time to recoup their losses. Midcareer workers will fare better because they have more time to rebuild their wealth. They may even gain income if they buy stocks at low prices and get above-average rates of return. High-income groups will be the most affected because they are most likely to have financial assets and to be invested in the stock market.

 

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Social Security Does Not Face a Near-Term “Reckoning”:

Social Security Does Not Face a Near-Term “Reckoning”:
In recent weeks, several analysts, journalists, and legislators have sounded an alarm about the effect of the current recession on Social Security's near-term prospects, which has fostered an impression that the program may face serious problems in the next few years. Fortunately, this is not the case. The recession has affected the system's finances, and the next report of the Social Security Trustees — due in coming weeks …

 

Monday, April 20, 2009

Increasing Employment, Skills and Earnings

Increasing Employment, Skills and Earnings
Testifying before the Council of the District of Columbia, Martha Ross called for renewed attention to programs connecting young people to job training and the labor market, urging attention to program quality rather than just numbers served.

 

Raising State Income Taxes on High-Income Taxpayers

Raising State Income Taxes on High-Income Taxpayers
As states face increasingly difficult choices for closing the gap between available resources and the cost of needed programs and services, one potential revenue source can be found at the high end of the income tax spectrum. The personal income tax, a major source of revenue for 41 states, can yield a significant amount of money from small rate increases that involve a relatively low number of taxpayers — …

 

Friday, April 17, 2009

Income Gaps Hit Record Levels In 2006, New Data Show

Income Gaps Hit Record Levels In 2006, New Data Show
New data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that in 2006, the top 1 percent of households had a larger share of the nation’s after-tax income, and the middle and bottom fifths of households had smaller shares, than in any year since 1979, the first year the CBO data cover. As a result, the gaps in after-tax incomes between households in the top 1 percent and those in the middle and bottom fifths were the widest on record. The data reveal starkly uneven income growth over …

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Dixieland Blues

Dixieland Blues
By Cecille Isidro on American History
Governors across the country are clamoring for a piece of the stimulus, eager to avoid laying off state employees, hoping to put their unemployed citizens back to work and trying to avoid widespread furloughs as budgets bleed red ink. They know that their citizens want to keep libraries open, teachers in the classroom, cops on the beat and firefighters ready to protect people and property.

 

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Georgia jobless claims surge but 'glimmer of hope' seen

Jobless claims surge but 'glimmer of hope' seen
Huge numbers of Georgians continue to file claims for unemployment insurance and more grim job reports lie ahead, but the state's battered economy may be showing faint signs of life. More than 96,000 Georgians filed new jobless claims last month, a 126 percent leap from March a year ago, the state Labor Department said Thursday.

 

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Tools for Assessing the Labor Market Impacts of Infrastructure Investment

Tools for Assessing the Labor Market Impacts of Infrastructure Investment
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) helped to kick off a renewed debate over the state of the nation’s infrastructure. For years, advocates for increased infrastructure spending had argued that the deterioration of the nation’s public capital stock was harming prospects for durable economic growth. When an ambitious fiscal policy response was necessitated by the steep recession beginning in 2008, the Obama administration used the opportunity to fund substantial infrastructure investments as part of its economic recovery package.

 

Transportation investments and the labor market: How many jobs could be generated and what type?

Transportation investments and the labor market: How many jobs could be generated and what type?
In February, Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus package—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—which included substantial new funding for infrastructure investment. From a macroeconomic perspective, this is good news: infrastructure spending as economic stimulus provides a high economic “bang-for-the-buck” (that is, extra output and employment created through each dollar increase in the federal deficit) and stands near the top
of the list of proposals to spur economic recovery.1 The largest chunk of this investment focuses on transportation infrastructure, which is likely to provide even more bang-for-the-buck than generic infrastructure investment.

 

Green investments and the labor market: How many jobs could be generated and what type?

Green investments and the labor market: How many jobs could be generated and what type?
The budget put forward in March by the Obama administration clearly commits to reducing carbon emissions as a means to fight global climate change. Specifically, the Obama budget advocates on behalf of a “cap-and-trade” policy that would put a price on carbon emissions.

 

Monday, April 06, 2009

Marietta jobs on the line as Pentagon declines F-22s

Marietta jobs on the line as Pentagon declines F-22s
The Defense Department plans to end the F-22 Raptor fighter jet program that employs 2,000 workers in Marietta. The move is part of one of the most sweeping makeovers of defense spending in recent history.

 

Friday, April 03, 2009

Government's the Place to Be in a Downturn

Government's the Place to Be in a Downturn
While the private sector has experienced huge job losses, employment in the government has actually grown since the recession started.

 

No End in Sight to Job Losses; 663,000 More Cut in March

No End in Sight to Job Losses; 663,000 More Cut in March
The unemployment rate reached 8.5 percent, its highest level in a quarter-century, in a sign of the severity of the downturn.

 

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Finding Hope Online, and Hoping a Job Follows

Finding Hope Online, and Hoping a Job Follows
A laid-off window installer says he has applied unsuccessfully for dozens of jobs in the past year.

 

500,000 Lost Health Insurance, Report Says

500,000 Lost Health Insurance, Report Says
About 500,000 working-age Californians have lost health insurance amid the recession, and 600,000 more could lose theirs by 2012 even if the economy fully recovers, according to a UC Berkeley report.

 

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Rising Tides and Retirement: The Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Differential Wage Growth on Social Security

Rising Tides and Retirement: The Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Differential Wage Growth on Social Security
Recent growth in wage inequality has important implications for Social Security solvency and benefit distributions. Because only earnings below the taxable maximum are subject to payroll taxes, concentrated wage growth among higher earners generates less revenue than more evenly distributed growth. Social Security's progressive benefit formula increases benefit payouts when shares of workers with low wages grow. We use a dynamic microsimulation model to examine aggregate and distributional consequences of alternative scenarios about future wage growth. We find that relatively modest changes in assumptions about wage differentials generate marked changes in projected Social Security benefits, poverty, and long-term financing status.

 

The Impact of Changing Earnings Volatility on Retirement Wealth

The Impact of Changing Earnings Volatility on Retirement Wealth
Over the past several decades, the volatility of family income has increased markedly, and own earnings volatility has remained relatively flat. Volatility may affect retirement wealth, depending on whether volatility affects accrued pension contributions or withdrawals or earnings credited toward future Social Security benefits. This project assesses the effect of the volatility of individual and family earnings on asset accumulation and projected retirement wealth using survey data matched to administrative earnings records.