Heidi Shierholz Profile picture
Sep 25, 2020 5 tweets 1 min read Read on X
This quick blog post helps cut through the confusion with labor labor market data right now. 1/ epi.org/blog/at-least-…
TL;DR: Right now, 21.5 million workers are either officially unemployed or otherwise out of work because of the virus, and another 11.5 million are employed but have seen a drop in hours and pay, for a total of 33 million workers directly hurt by the COVID recession. 2/
And that doesn’t count those who lost a job or hours earlier in the pandemic but are back to work now. The cumulative count of those harmed would be much greater. 3/
The 33.0 million also ignores the fact that even workers who are employed and haven't had their hours cut are hurt by the recession. When job openings are scarce, workers’ leverage dissolves. Employers don’t have to pay well when they know workers don’t have outside options. 4/
Actions to boost the economy and create or save over 10 million jobs have been held up by Senate Republicans. This is a preventable disaster for the workers of this country, all on the hands of Senate Republicans unless they pass these provisions. 5/

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More from @hshierholz

Sep 13
Trump’s claim that he would exempt overtime from taxes is deeply unserious. This policy would be incredibly easy to game. How? 1/
Employers could (and would) easily switch salaried, overtime-ineligible workers to hourly—and set the hourly wage so that, with overtime, they are paying no more than they paid before—and allow their workers to get the tax cut. 2/
In other words, a huge share of the expenditures on this tax exemption would go to very highly paid workers. And good lord, big-firm lawyers would love this. 3/
Read 8 tweets
Feb 20
The immigrant share of the labor force reached a record high of 18.6% in 2023. As a result, anti-immigration forces have been out in full force with a deeply misguided chorus of “immigrants are taking all our jobs.” Here are some key facts, to set the record straight. 1/
The unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers averaged 3.6% in 2023, the lowest rate on record. Obviously, immigration is not causing high unemployment among US-born workers. 2/
The share of prime-age U.S.-born individuals with a job is at its highest rate in more than two decades. In 2023, the prime-age employment-to-population ratio EPOP for U.S.-born individuals was 81.4%, up from 80.7% in 2019 and the highest it has been since 2001. 3/
Read 13 tweets
Jan 23
The #UnionMembership numbers from 2023 were released this morning by @BLS_gov, showing that unionization increased by 191,000 in 2023. There are now 16.2 million workers represented by a union in the U.S. 1/
While union levels increased by 191,000, the share of workers represented by a union declined from 11.3% to 11.2%. There was very strong job growth in 2023 and unionization efforts simply couldn’t keep up with all the new jobs being added. 2/
Before digging in, it’s worth noting that the decline in union density is not because workers don’t want unions. Survey data show that 48% of nonunion workers—more than 60 million workers—would vote for a union in their workplace if they had the chance. More on that to follow. 3/
Read 20 tweets
Jan 19, 2023
Union membership numbers from 2022 were released this morning by @BLS_gov, showing that 200,000 more workers were represented by a union in 2022 than in 2021. There are now more than 16 million workers represented by a union in the U.S. 1/
However, MORE THAN 60 MILLION WORKERS WANTED TO JOIN A UNION, AND COULDN’T. How do we know that? Survey data show that 48% of nonunion workers—more than 60 million workers—would vote for a union in their workplace if they could. 2/
Note, @BLS_gov publishes numbers for both union membership and for union coverage (coverage = those represented by a union contract). In 2022, the share of workers represented by a union was 11.3%, while the share of workers who were union members was 10.1%. 3/
Read 18 tweets
Jan 5, 2023
This morning the @FTC released a proposed rule that, if finalized, will ban noncompete agreements. It is REALLY good. 1/ nytimes.com/2023/01/05/bus…
Why do we need this rule? The only source of power nonunionized workers have vis-à-vis their employers is their ability to quit and take a job elsewhere. So, SURPRISE, employers are using noncompete agreements to cut that source of worker power off at knees. 2/
The research on this is clear. Noncompetes are ubiquitous, they reduce wages, keep workers from finding better opportunities, and reduce the formation of new firms. 3/ epi.org/publication/no…
Read 6 tweets
Jul 8, 2022
We added 372,000 jobs in June, bringing the three-month average to 375,000. This is down from the blistering average pace of 561,000 per month for the 12 months ending in February of this year. Job growth remains very strong, but is clearly moderating. 1/
Wage growth is also clearly decelerating, which is enormously consequential for fed policy. Quarterly wage growth ticked down in June and has dropped substantially in recent months. It is now near its pre-COVID range. 2/
Make no mistake, we want positive real wage growth for workers. But—and this is hugely important—this decelerating wage growth means the Fed doesn’t need more interest rate increases to contain inflation. 3/
Read 13 tweets

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