Republicans were excited for a weak January jobs report. Their expectations were crushed

The January jobs report released Friday morning was predicted to be weak thanks to the omicron surge, and Republicans were doing victory laps in advance. Former Trump mouthpiece Sean Spicer tweeted …

As employers expand pool of workers, formerly incarcerated people see opportunities and risks

by Ray Levy Uyeda

This article was originally published at Prism.

“Help Wanted” signs have gone up and stayed up in storefront windows around the country as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread …

December jobs report short of expectations ... but October and November jobs numbers revised upward

Another month of pandemic, another confusing and somewhat contradictory jobs report. The headline numbers are that 199,000 new jobs were created in December, while the unemployment level fell to 3.9%, …

The U.S. economy is beating the world, thanks to Joe Biden, but you wouldn't know it from the media

The U.S. economy is expanding at a 7% rate over the last three months, up by 5% from the beginning of the year. That number isn’t just three times the expected growth rate in Europe, it almost doubles …

Confirmed: The media is setting a gloom-and-doom tone on the economy

The United States, along with much of the rest of the world, has been through rocky economic times thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re traumatized and uncertain about the future and not sure where …

New jobless claims hit a 52-year low. How will the media spin that to be bad for Biden?

New unemployment claims dropped to 184,000 last week, the lowest since 1969. It sure is going to be interesting watching the media find a way to turn that into bad news for President Joe Biden. …

Biden touts 'the sharpest one-year decline in unemployment ever'

The November jobs report can best be described as confusing, bringing the different methods used to track different economic indicators into focus. The topline numbers are that the economy added …

Republican governors hate unemployed people ... unless they're anti-vaxxers

Back in the spring and summer, Republican governors in one state after another cut off unemployment benefits in an attempt to force people—who were supposedly sitting home, being lazy—back into the …

Two things are true: Inflation is real, and the media is hyping it and ignoring better economic news

Retail sales rose in October for a third month in a row. October saw strong jobs growth, and Goldman Sachs is predicting a significant drop in the unemployment rate over the next year. Most families …

October jobs growth exceeds expectations

The October jobs report was a burst of good economic news. Not only did job creation exceed expectations in October with 531,000 new jobs added, but the previously disappointing jobs reports from …

Women over 40 are being trampled by the COVID-19 economy, this week in the war on workers

Women over 40 have been particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 economy—and, in this as in just about every other piece of bad economic news, Black and Hispanic women have had it the worst. According to …

Republicans made up a story about worker shortages and unemployment aid. Then reality caught up

Many business owners, Republican governors, and plenty of media figures spent the late spring and the summer pushing the idea—let’s just call it a lie up front, shall we?—that increased unemployment …

Weak September jobs report busts the unemployment benefits myth, this week in the war on workers

The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to leave its mark on the economy with another disappointing jobs report. Earlier in the summer, job creation rose dramatically, only to sink again as …

U.S. marks Labor Day by letting unemployment aid expire for 7 million people

Labor Day is meant to celebrate U.S. workers. But this Labor Day will bring a major blow to more than 7 million workers left unemployed during the coronavirus pandemic: Their unemployment benefits …

The unemployment insurance system shuts out BIPOC workers. Here’s how to fix it

By Lakshmi Gandhi

This story was originally published at Prism.

Millions of Americans are entering Labor Day weekend knowing that one of the key unemployment benefits that has been keeping them afloat …

The data is (still) clear: Hurting the unemployed doesn't help them get jobs

In The New York Times, a solid bit of journalism by Ben Casselman runs through the newest labor study and numbers to report that despite Republican claims, cutting off enhanced federal unemployment …

July jobs report exceeds expectations, this week in the war on workers

Good things were happening with jobs in July:

But while that’s good news, Republican state unemployment cut-offs have left 1.6 million people without unemployment benefits, with another 7.5 million …

Black Women's Equal Pay Day is all the evidence of systemic racism and sexism you need

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day falls on August 3 this year. That’s the day when, starting on January 1, 2020, Black women have finally been paid what white men were paid in 2020 alone. Equal Pay Day, the …

From Carl's Jr. to a gay club, Oregon workers suffered in the heat, this week in the war on workers

Workers suffered during recent heat waves around the country, and hitting the Pacific Northwest especially hard. We’ve talked about the need for heat protections for farmworkers, but they’re not the …

American Rescue Plan is giving jobless workers and families with kids a boost starting in July

Republican governors across the country have cut off federal unemployment benefits for millions of people, but Democratic policies are still kicking in to help people struggling in the uneven recovery …