Job Market Monitor
Politics & Policies
Sweden – The unemployment rate of 8.5 percent and LO is preparing for a regime change
In February 2014, the number of unemployed persons was 433 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. 4 648 000 persons aged 15-74 were employed; this is an increase of 51 000. The number of hours worked averaged 154.9 million per week, an increase of 3.3 million. Seasonally adjusted data shows small differences in … Continue reading
Minimum Wage and Poverty in US – The income boost would be less than $1.00 for each $1.00 increase in gross earnings writes Congressional Research Service
Pending before Congress is legislation (S. 1737 and H.R. 1010) that would raise the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to, ultimately, $10.10 per hour. The minimum wage would be adjusted for inflation thereafter. Whether the minimum wage or alternative policies, namely government-funded earnings supplements such as the Earned Income Tax Credit … Continue reading
US – Jobs, Economy, Gov’t are top priorities finds Gallup
Three issues — unemployment, the economy in general, and dissatisfaction with government — dominate when Americans name the most important problem facing the nation. Nineteen percent mention unemployment or jobs, 18% say dissatisfaction with government, and 17% the economy in general. Unemployment edged out the other two issues in February, but dropped slightly in March. … Continue reading
Minimum wage in US – Over 500 economists sign a petition to the President against an increase
The “recovery” from the Great Recession has been anemic. Business growth, job creation, and consumer spending remain tenuous. Since the official trough in June 2009, median income has fallen, real wages have barely risen, unemployment remains elevated, and because so many Americans have left the workforce entirely, the fraction of the population working is below … Continue reading
Minimum Wage in US / Much of the empirical evidence suggests that it fails to alleviate net poverty says CATO
Numerous empirical studies have examined the effect of past minimum wage increases on poverty. In a 2007 peer-reviewed study, Richard Burkhauser of Cornell University and I examined Census data from 1979 to 2003 to estimate the effects of minimum wage increases on state poverty rates. We found no evidence that minimum wage increases were effective … Continue reading
Immigration Impact in UK – A report ‘blocked’ by Downing Street
Downing Street is believed to have blocked publication of a politically sensitive report that shows the impact of immigration on the job prospects of British workers is well below that claimed by ministers. The new research is reported to challenge claims made by the home secretary, Theresa May, based on a 2012 Migration Advisory Committee … Continue reading
Canada / Finance’s Jobs Report uses wrong data says The Globe and Mail
Last month, for the first time, Canada’s Department of Finance released a separate Jobs Report along with the federal budget. Problem: Canada’s job creation record, as indicated in Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy Statistics (JVS), has been dismal. Solution: Ignore the JVS, use something else and hope no one notices. Unfortunately, as The Globe and Mail … Continue reading
Canada Job Grant / A deal reached with Quebec
Quebec has joined all other provinces and territories in a tentative agreement with the federal government on the Canada Job Grant, Employment Minister Jason Kenney said today in the House of Commons. Kenney made the announcement in question period. The news follows his announcement last Friday that 12 provinces and territories had negotiated a tentative … Continue reading
Canada Job Grant / Deal reached with all provinces except Quebec Jason Kenney confirms
Employment Minister Jason Kenney has confirmed the federal government has reached a deal in principle will all provinces except Quebec on the Canada Job Grant, as CBC News reported yesterday. “I am pleased to announce that we have arrived at an agreement in principle with 12 provincial governments and territories on their delivery of the … Continue reading
Canada Jobs Grant in PEI – NGO funding will be cut 40 per cent in new deal says Primer
P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz says a new agreement reached on the Canada Jobs Grant will mean community organizations that receive funding through existing skills programs will be cut by 40 per cent. The provinces reached an agreement in principle regarding the contentious new national job training program. But Ghiz says the provinces had to agree … Continue reading
US – Yellen backs CBO’s minimum wage report
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen in Senate testimony subtly slapped the White House, which criticized a recent Congressional Budget Office report on the minimum wage, saying it didn’t represent a consensus among economists. The CBO report said raising the minimum wage would lift 900,000 people out of poverty, but would also lead to the elimination … Continue reading
US – The White House economic case for raising the minimum wage
The minimum wage helps support family incomes, reducing inequality and poverty, but as a slide deck from the Council of Economic Advisers shows, as the real value of the minimum wage has been allowed to erode, it has stopped serving this important purpose. via The Economic Case for Raising the Minimum Wage. Related articles Minimum Wage … Continue reading
France – Hollande’s hiring targets in doubt
French unions and employers start talks on Friday over how to cut social charges weighing on companies, though both sides doubted the cuts could be linked to hiring targets as President Francois Hollande first promised. The government hopes the parties will agree by early April on the terms of Hollande’s so-called “responsibility pact”, which aims … Continue reading
The FED / Inflation wins over Unemployment
Ryan Avent, having exhausted his conventional analysis of the Fed’s 2008 transcripts, turns today to a more analytical approach: counting words. I think others have already made this point without numbers, but Avent’s most powerful finding is that the Fed cares way more about inflation than it does about unemployment: There is only one winner … Continue reading
Canada / The Middle-class dream is a ‘myth’ says an internal report
Canada’s middle class is mortgaging its future to stay afloat, making the Canadian dream “a myth more than a reality.” That’s the blunt assessment of an internal Conservative government report, an unvarnished account of the plight of middle-income families that’s in contrast to the rosier economic picture in this month’s budget. The document was prepared … Continue reading
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