Labor

Update 777: April Jobs Data; Week’s Key Hill Hearing

Update 777 — 175,000 Jobs Added in AprilLabor Market Data; Week’s Key Hill Hearings On Wednesday, Fed Chair Powell made clear that long-elevated interest rates would remain in place, perhaps well into autumn, until either price or labor market data showed a retreat. This morning’s jobs report showing the economy added 175,000 jobs in April …

Update 777: April Jobs Data; Week’s Key Hill Hearing Read More »

Impact of Organized Labor

Update 766 – Impact of Organized Labor On Wages, Conditions, Markets, Politics For several years now, we have seen a labor market so “tight” that job opportunities have outnumbered workers available to fill them, with big gains in wages as demand outstrips supply.  Within that market is organized labor, which has seen, or led, much of …

Impact of Organized Labor Read More »

Update 709 — Summer of Labor Discontent: What’s at Stake for Workers in the Strikes?

Update 709 — Summer of Labor Discontent:What’s at Stake for Workers in the Strikes? The U.S. labor market finds itself catching up at last — for the first time since early in the pandemic, workers’ wage gains are now exceeding the rate of inflation. Unemployment is close to a 50-year low. Bargaining power is now …

Update 709 — Summer of Labor Discontent: What’s at Stake for Workers in the Strikes? Read More »

Rigged Gig is Finally Up

We pause coverage of macroeconomic issues and the midterms for a moment to look at a growing problem for workers: the lack of protections for those in the gig economy and the misclassification of workers. Last week, the Biden Administration released its proposal for a new rule that would provide guidance on the classification of …

Rigged Gig is Finally Up Read More »

Biden’s Been Working OT on the Railroad

Update 635 — Democrats Dodge a Bullet:Biden’s Been Working OT on the Railroad Yesterday, President Biden announced a tentative agreement between major freight rail carriers and unions representing the nation’s freight workers. The announcement came just one day before a strike shutting down the freight rail system. Disruptions to shipments caused by a strike could …

Biden’s Been Working OT on the Railroad Read More »