News
CNN Money | Congress restructures unemployment benefits
Beginning later this year, the maximum number of weeks the jobless can collect unemployment benefits would be reduced to 73 weeks, under a new deal being hammered out in Congress.
WSJ | Portugal's Jobless Rate Jumps
Portugal's unemployment rate jumped to 14% in the final three months of last year, surprising economists and suggesting that austerity measures being implemented under the country's international bailout are creating a bigger-than-expected dent in the economy.
National Journal | Unemployment Rate Could Be Much Higher, CBO Finds
The unemployment rate last month would have been 15 percent—nearly twice as much as reported—if the official count included two groups dissatisfied with their employment status, the Congressional Budget Office found in a new report.
WSJ | Share of Workers in Scientific Fields Shrinks
The share of American workers in the science and engineering professions fell slightly in the past decade, ending what had been a steady upward trend in the proportion of workers in fields associated with technological innovation and economic growth.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CBO | Understanding and Responding to Persistently High Unemployment
The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, and CBO projects that it will remain above 8 percent until 2014.
Heritage Foundation | Improving Labor Market Calls for Reducing Unemployment Insurance Duration
Congressional leaders have agreed to maintain extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while reducing maximum benefit duration to one-and-a-half years. The legislation moves in the right direction, but in an improving labor market, Congress should go further.
Blogs
Café Hayek | Bronars on Rattner
Rattner claims that Detroit is coming back, pointing to the falling unemployment rate. Bronars shows that that’s not the real story.
The American | CBO: The U.S. is experiencing ‘longest stretch of high unemployment since the Great Depression’
The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression.
