News
National Journal | Employers’ Role in State Job-Training Programs Will Grow
It's a small change, but one that could greatly increase the influence of businesses with their local governments when it comes to job creation. A job-training bill that passed the Senate on Wednesday, 95-3, significantly bolsters employers' voices on local committees that determine what types of job-training programs receive federal dollars. It does that primarily by shrinking these committees to less than half their current size.
Fox News | Mr. Obama, where are our 5 million missing jobs?
The commerce department reported Wednesday that the economy contracted by nearly 3 percent from January through March. This dismal shrinkage in output has many Americans worrying about a dreaded double dip recession.
CNN Money | Ikea lifting minimum wage to nearly $11 an hour
Ikea is acting on its own to lift the minimum wage, and it's doing it in a unique way: The U.S. average will be $10.76 and hour, but will be adjusted in different areas for cost of living.
Bloomberg | Jobless Claims in U.S. Decreased 2,000 Last Week to 312,000
Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign of steady progress in the labor market.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | Dreams Deferred: Young Workers and Recent Graduates in the US Economy
The young are always far more affected by an employment crisis than older workers. Today, however, they face one of the worst labor markets of any generation. Not only have they experienced the Great Recession, but six years later they still face a poorly performing labor market. Their employment level is down, earnings and earnings growth are lower, wealth is lower, and millions of the young have yet to even enter the labor force. In fact, they are a large part of the biggest ongoing economic challenge we face today—the shrinking labor force.
Blogs
WSJ | U.S. Manufacturing Importing As Many Jobs As It Exports, Says Group
America is now luring as many factory jobs back from overseas—a process known as reshoring—as it’s losing to continued offshoring.
WSJ | Fed’s Lacker: Much Labor Market Slack Remains Due to Structural Issues
Much of the weakness remaining in the U.S. labor market is due to structural issues, such as a skills mismatch between available workers and available jobs, that cannot be easily addressed by monetary policymakers at the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said Thursday.
