Jun 08 2016
The Ratio of Unemployed Workers to Job Openings is at the Level it Was Heading Into the Great Recession
Today's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) shows that there were 1.4 unemployed workers per job openings in April. This brings the ratio back down to where it was shortly before the Great Recession. As recently as July of 2009 there were 6.6 unemployed workers per opening.
Jun 03 2016
The May Jobs Report in Eight Charts
Gross domestic product (GDP) data for the first quarter of 2016 (second estimate) were released on Friday, May 27, 2016. Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 0.8 percent (revised up from 0.5 percent in the first estimate).
May 20 2016
Current Unemployment Rates across States
State unemployment rates for April were released on Friday, May 20, 2016. In total, 19 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 5.0 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 21 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
For more, see the State-by-State Snapshot.
To celebrate Mother’s Day, and all that mothers do, Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Member Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has released a list of 10 facts about what mothers add to the US economy, and the challenges they face.
May 06 2016
The April Jobs Report in Eight Charts
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment situation for April 2016 on Friday, May 6, 2016. The economy added 171,000 private-sector jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0 percent. See the press release for additional information.
Apr 15 2016
Current Unemployment Rates across States
President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law on June 10, 1963. The law mandates that men and women receive equal pay for “substantially equal” work at the same establishment. A year later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to providing protections against discrimination based on an individual’s national origin, race and religion, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of an individual’s sex.
Over the course of more than a half-century, these laws and more recent legislation have helped make it more likely that women receive equal pay for equal work. However, women still tend to be paid substantially less than men. Based on median annual earnings, a woman working full time, year-round typically earns only 79 cents for every dollar earned by her male counterpart. The 21?percent difference in earnings (or 21 cents on the dollar) is known as the “gender pay gap.”
The difference adds up—women’s median earnings are $10,800 less per year than men’s. Over the span of a career that yearly difference could accumulate to a half million dollars.
The pay gap also dramatically affects what women receive in retirement because it reduces women’s earnings. The major sources of retirement income, including Social Security and pension benefits, are largely calculated on the basis of career earnings. Income of women ages 65 and older ($17,400) is 44 percent less than the median income for men in the same age group ($31,200). As a result of this and other factors, a higher percentage of women than men end up living in poverty after age 65.