News
WSJ | More People Opt Not to Work Anymore
On Friday, the government will release its monthly estimate of how many Americans are working and how many are looking for work. But another number in the report may have greater long-term significance: the declining share of the population that is doing either one.
Blogs
Economics One | Disappointing Labor Markets in the Nation and in Key States
Were it not for the unusual labor force decline (that is, the decline beyond what is due to the aging of the baby boomers and the downturn in the business cycle), the unemployment rate would be “about 1¼ percentage points higher than the actual rate” according to the CBO. This means that the current 7.8 percent is actually 9.1 percent.
WSJ | Real Time Economics | Number of the Week: States’ Broader Unemployment Rates
15.3%: The rate of underemployment in Idaho, under the Labor Department’s broader definition.
AEIdeas | Explaining the weak U.S. labor market: More unemployment benefits means more unemployment
There have been numerous studies linking increases in unemployment benefits to increases in unemployment. One, from the San Francisco Fed, estimates that absent the extended UI benefits in 2009, the unemployment rate would have peaked at 9.6% rather than 10%.
