On March 13, the House voted to restore the work requirements that the Obama Administration attempted to gut from the 1996 welfare reform law. The Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2013 was introduced in late February by a group of conservatives to undo the Administration’s actions. The …
At the height of the recession, one in 10 Americans who wanted to work could not find employment. Since then, the unemployment rate has gradually fallen. Typically, when the unemployment rate goes down, it’s because more people find jobs. In this recession, however, employment rates have been flat. In February, …
January’s unemployment numbers for the 17 countries of the eurozone has moved closer to 12 percent. This underscores the strong economic headwinds that face these member nations as they continue to grapple with an ongoing economic crisis. This same data reveals deep internal chasms within the eurozone between the economically …
During last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama proposed fighting poverty by raising the minimum wage. It sounds appealing but it will not work. Labor economists have repeatedly studied the effects of minimum wage increases. They find no correlation between higher minimum wages and lower poverty. Raising the …
Menzie Chinn took to the blog Econbrowser last Thursday to accuse conservative economists in general – and The Heritage Foundation in particular – of being inconsistent, since we did not share his optimism about the benefits of the 2009 stimulus, but we’ve warned of the danger of the fiscal cliff. …
The November employment report appeared to be good news. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest level since 2009, and the economy created 146,000 jobs. However, a closer reading of the details shows that the labor market is not recovering any faster but instead continuing its long, painful …
