Jobs and Labor Policy

A few Members of Congress, motivated by American combat in the Middle East, have called for the reinstatement of a compulsory military draft. The case for coercing young citizens to join the military is supposedly based on social jus­tice?that all should serve?and… Read more

Abstract: Salaries and benefits—for identical jobs—are 30 percent to 40 percent higher in the federal government than in the private sector. Claims that this dramatic discrepancy in compensation is warranted because of government workers’ high skills are unjustified, as this study shows. Equally unjustified… Read more

The federal government pays its employees substantially more than they would earn in the private sector. The current federal pay system: Pays hourly wages 22 percent above that of comparable private sector workers; Provides… Read more

What do unions do? The AFL-CIO argues that unions offer a pathway to higher wages and prosperity for the middle class. Critics point to the collapse of many highly unionized domestic industries and argue that unions harm the economy. To whom should policymakers listen? What unions do has been studied extensively by economists, and a… Read more

What Is the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA)? Under the current Equal Pay Act, once employees have provided prima facie evidence of sex discrimination, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show that… Read more

Revised and updated March 4, 2009 Organized Labor has made the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) its top legislative priority. The act would replace the current system of secret-ballot organizing elections with card checks, in which workers publicly sign union cards to organize and join a union. It would… Read more

The federal government pays its employees substantially more than they would earn in the private sector. The current federal pay system: Pays hourly wages 22 percent above that of comparable private sector workers; Provides… Read more

Abstract: Salaries and benefits—for identical jobs—are 30 percent to 40 percent higher in the federal government than in the private sector. Claims that this dramatic discrepancy in compensation is warranted because of government workers’ high skills are unjustified, as this study shows. Equally unjustified… Read more

The June jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that while total employment had declined by 125,000 jobs, the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 9.5 percent from 9.7 percent. Private employment increased 83,000 jobs but was swamped by the ending of many temporary government jobs associated with… Read more

Initial estimates from the Department of Labor (DOL) suggest the U.S. economy lost 125,000 jobs in June while the unemployment rate declined by 0.4 percent from May’s highly elevated 9.9 percent.[1] Over the last two months the economy averaged only 58,000 private sector jobs created, suggesting a faltering… Read more

Abstract: While layoffs increased during this recession, they are not the primary cause of the nearly 10 percent unemployment rate. The main factor driving the unemployment rate so high during this recession was, and continues to be, the… Read more

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that net employment increased by 431,000 in May, and that the unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent. While this appears to be good news, 411,000 of those new jobs are temporary government jobs associated with hiring for the decennial census.… Read more

The latest employment report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that the labor market may have turned a corner. While the unemployment rate climbed to 9.9 percent, the increase is due to more people re-entering the labor force in an effort to find work. Employers created 231,000 private… Read more

Initial estimates from the Department of Labor (DOL) suggest that the unemployment rate increased in April to 9.9 percent, while the U.S. economy created on net 290,000 jobs.[1] While the figures are artificially elevated by the temporary surge of federal government hiring due to the decennial census, they… Read more

While President Obama continues traveling the U.S. heralding the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, businesses across the U.S. are growing more and more discontent—and for good reason. The new health care… Read more

In March, employers added 162,000 jobs while the unemployment rate remained constant at 9.7 percent. The report contains some good news for the labor market, as hiring kept pace with an increase in the overall labor force. Hours of work were also up, indicating that the labor market has bottomed… Read more