Weekly Economic Snapshot 5/7 - 5/11

Economic Facts for This Week

• Social Security provides vital income for older Americans. Without income from the program, the poverty rate for Americans over 65 would be four times higher than it currently is.
• Nearly 34 million households lack access to the traditional banking sector. For these families, they often have to pay higher fees for check cashing and credit services.
• Medicaid work requirements will be particularly harmful to the homeless, who face substantial barriers to employment.
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) promotes entrepreneurship. When SNAP expanded in the mid-2000s, newly eligible households became 20 percent more likely to start a business. This shows how the safety net can promote risk-taking, by providing a backstop in case a new venture fails. 

Chart of the Week             

After the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the percent of adults without health care insurance declined steadily. The individual marketplaces and expansion of Medicaid in many states opened up new avenues to insurance for families who could not get coverage through employers. The Trump administration and Congressional Republicans are working hard to reverse this progress, though, and the data show that they are succeeding in reducing access to health care. A new survey shows that the number of nonelderly adults without health insurance rose again in 2018, particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid.

ICYMI

• JEC’s April Economic Snapshot of the States looks at how families are faring in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• Noted economist Robert Gordon looks at what is causing slower economic growth in recent years. He highlights the need to tackle income inequality and encourage more people to join the workforce to raise long-term growth, among other policies.
• Brookings explains what you need to know about the bond market yield curve, why it is flattening, and how recent trends don’t necessarily signal an economic downturn.

Coming This Week

• Tuesday 10:00 am: Job Opens and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS, for March): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.htm

• Thursday 8:30 am: Consumer Price Index (inflation, for April): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm

• Friday 10:00 am: University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (for May): http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/