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… Read more
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… Read more
Last week, President Obama said he would soon propose a set of policies that would eliminate tax breaks for businesses that move jobs overseas and reward businesses that bring jobs to the U.S. as part of his new “insourcing” agenda. If the President proposes more of… Read more
What Is Official Time? Official time is the practice of federal employees doing work for government unions while they are on the clock for their government jobs. … Read more
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”… Read more
In December, the labor market continued its improvement by adding 200,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell again to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. The annual year-end revisions to the unemployment rate confirm the gradual but significant improvement in the labor market since the end of summer.… Read more
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of jobs grew in November by 120,000 and that the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent, the lowest level since March 2009. The sharp drop in the unemployment rate was a result of solid job growth in the household survey and… Read more
Unemployment remains stuck at 9 percent because of low job creation, not higher job losses. In fact, job losses hit a record low in March 2011. Fewer entrepreneurs are starting new companies, and fewer business owners are expanding existing enterprises. Reduced job creation entirely explains the economy’s high… Read more
Do regulations kill jobs? Not according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV). In a floor speech November 15, Reid argued that the idea that regulations cost jobs was a “myth,” claiming that according to the Labor Department, “only a tiny fraction of layoffs have anything at all to do… Read more
Abstract: With a high unemployment rate and a struggling economy, passing legislation that discourages job creation would seem counterintuitive. And yet, by pushing for the Fair Empolyment Opportunity Act (FEOA) this is precisely what President Obama and some Members of Congress propose. The FEOA… Read more
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… Read more
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… 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… Read more
Supporters of raising the minimum wage argue that doing so will reduce poverty. It seems intuitive that raising the minimum wage would have this effect. Presumably, requiring employers to pay their lowest-paid employees more would lift large numbers of low-income households out of poverty. But the evidence shows that this does not happen. Despite… 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
Supporters of raising the minimum wage argue it will raise the earnings of low-income workers. Labor unions are among the most prominent of these supporters, a fact that makes little intuitive sense, because very few union members work for the minimum wage. Unions, however, are not just being altruistic when they push to raise… 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… Read more
The catchphrase "jobless recovery" enjoys permanent status in daily media reports about the economy, despite the fact that an unprecedented number of Americans were employed last quarter, not to mention the low rate of unemployment. Skeptics attribute lower unemployment to growing ranks of "discouraged workers" leaving the labor force, but that scenario doesn't fit the… Read more
Many people believe that Americans are overworked, but new research shows that Americans are spending less time at work and more time at leisure than ever before. That research's key conclusions: Since the mid-1960s, the amount of time that the typical American spends working fell by almost eight hours per week, while the time… Read more
President Obama’s illegal non-recess appointments are unconstitutional and defy the process the Founding Fathers...… Read more
In 22 states in the Union, workers have the freedom under "Right-to-Work" laws to decide whether or not to pay union...… Read more
The Obama Administration’s decision to forego the Keystone pipeline has forced the country’s labor groups into a...… Read more
Financial disclosure documents filed by two of President Obama’s illegal appointments to the National Labor Relations...… Read more
This week, all eyes are on South Carolina as the Palmetto State votes on Saturday in the next Republican presidential...… Read more
Obama made a big splash last week when he appointed a new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and...… Read more
One of the officials President Obama illegally appointed to the National Labor Relations Board advanced policies in his...… Read more
U.S. senators never got a chance to question or vote on President Obama’s illegal appointees to the National Labor...… Read more
President Obama's stunning appointments of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and of three...… Read more
Two of President Obama’s “recess” appointments will begin their tenure at the National Labor Relations Board without...… Read more
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions
Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics