Congress must remove artificial barriers to entrepreneurship and job creation, so that Americans will not have to suffer through high unemployment for years to come Read More.
President Obama’s health care law requires employers to offer health benefits to full-time employees. This employer mandate will price many unskilled workers out of full-time employment. Read More.
Union contracts frequently require employees to pay union dues or lose their jobs. This forces workers to support the union financially even if the union contract harms them or they oppose the union’s agenda. Read More.
With a high unemployment rate and a struggling economy, passing legislation that discourages job creation would seem counterintuitive. Read More.
A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report defines and counts the green jobs in the American economy.[1] Cheerleaders for the President’s program of green jobs mandates and spending point to the study as confirmation of green jobs’ economic importance. However, analysis of the BLS data provides more…
James Sherk discusses the unemployment rates among college graduates on FBN's Willis Report. …
The labor market made some gains in March, although the 120,000 new jobs were well below expectations of 200,000-plus. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also announced that the unemployment rate ticked down another tenth to 8.2 from 8.3 percent, largely due to rounding. Even this modest improvement in the unemployment…
Heritage Research on jobs is cited on FBN's Willis Report. …
James Sherk discusses the political role of unions on FBN's Willis Report. …
Brian Darling comments on job growth legislation passed by Congress on Portland's WMTW. …
As the national debt races toward $17 trillion and nearly 13 million Americans search fruitlessly for work, America needs bold changes from its leaders. Congress must get federal spending and borrowing under control and get out of the way of job creation in the private sector. …
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that businesses and governments increased payrolls by 227,000 jobs in February and that the unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate remained flat even as the labor market increased by 476,000 potential workers. Job creation was robust enough that the labor…
Elaine Chao discusses the recent jobs report on FBN's Lou Dobbs Tonight. …
James Sherk discusses unemployment benefits on WNET. …
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…
NO: LABOR UNIONS ADD TO COSTS AND DISCOURAGE PRODUCTIVITY Would you want to work for a company that treats all workers exactly the same, no matter how hard they work? What about one that promotes only on the basis of seniority and not merit? Few Americans want a job with an employer…
Testimony of Paul Kersey Bradley Visiting Fellow Before the House of Representatives; Small Business Committee; Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment, and Government Programs Regarding The Economic Effects of the Minimum Wage Ladies and gentlemen, it is understandable to want to…
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…
Abstract: America needs jobs. A government committed to free enterprise, limited government, and individual freedom, and not to more borrowing and spending, can properly help. To help unleash the private sector to invest and create jobs, Congress should promptly take five specific actions: enact…
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…
Private-sector job creation initially recovered from the recession at a normal rate, leading to predictions last year of a “Recovery Summer.” Since April 2010, however, net private-sector job creation has stalled. Within two months of the passage of Obamacare, the job market stopped improving. This suggests that businesses are not…
Political debate on income in the United States often has been characterized as competition between two schools of economic thought: one that focuses on the long-term increase in general prosperity and one that focuses on the equalization of existing incomes. Proponents of the first approach have much to hearten them; the long-term increase in economic…
Abstract: Attempts by Members of Congress to save U.S. manufacturing jobs by restricting international trade, particularly with China, are misguided and futile. Technological improvements, not international trade, are reducing U.S. manufacturing employment by automating many rote tasks. During the past decade, manufacturing employment has…
FYI: Heritage WebMemos are now called Issue Briefs. Congressional leaders have agreed to maintain extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while reducing maximum benefit duration to one-and-a-half years. The legislation moves in the right direction, but in an improving labor market, Congress…
President Obama recently sent Congress a series of policies as part of his “Startup America Initiative.”[1] The goal of the program is to help startups and small businesses to create jobs. The proposal includes four tax provisions that he also included in his budget. Some…
Abstract: In his third State of the Union address, President Obama, pointing to two years of job growth and the fastest job creation since 2005, argued that America’s economy is roaring back. These positive numbers lack context: In normal economic times they would represent…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in January, the economy added 243,000 jobs—108,000 more than the consensus forecast of 135,000. As a result, the unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. For the last three months, job creation has averaged 201,000…
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warns that a tax on certain financial transactions could “diminish the importance of the United States as a major financial market” and that, in the short run, “imposing the transaction tax would probably reduce output and employment.”[1] While these effects would be “mitigated”…
A funny thing happened on the way to the recall. Government unions organized Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R)...…
For some professions, it makes a lot of sense to have some high standards before you're allowed to work -- doctors,...…
On Friday, Americans woke up to the news that the labor market in April 2012 continued its plodding path of mediocrity....…
Her name is "Julia," and if you haven't seen her, she's a colorful cartoon character invented by the Obama campaign to...…
Every day, America waits for a brighter future to arrive -- the promise of change that President Barack Obama made in...…
Is it slavery for union workers to work alongside nonunion workers? The International Union of Operating Engineers...…
Should we raise the minimum wage? The editors at Bloomberg think so. They maintain that low-wage jobs are expanding...…
April 29 marks the third year in which the U.S. Senate has not passed a budget -- a staggering dereliction of duty,...…
If you ask the American people, they don't have much good to say about the U.S. economy. According to a new poll by...…
Do bank robbers stimulate economic growth? If you employ the logic used by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory...…
Director, Center for Data Analysis and Lazof Family Fellow
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Assistant Director, Center for Data Analysis and Research Fellow
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions
Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics