Job Market Monitor
United States
Skills Gap in US and Digital Readiness – How familiar adults are with specific educational resources or concepts
How familiar adults are with specific educational resources or concepts: As it turns out, there is not widespread public awareness of some of the key resources that are becoming available thanks to innovation online. Noteworthy majorities of Americans say they are “not too” or “not at all” aware of these things: Common Core standards – … Continue reading
Women’s Labour Market Participation – The Canada–U.S. gap
Substantial increases in the labour force participation of women are a striking feature of the labour market developments in most Western nations. While the growth in participation began at different times and has advanced at different rates, the quantitative changes in the North American labour market over the past three decades have been remarkable. According … Continue reading
US – Black workers in particular may have suffered more widespread wage losses
Census Bureau data shows that median earnings for full-time, year-round workers dropped from by nearly 3 percent for men and 1 percent for women between 2009 and 2014. While new data from the Labor Department shows that wage gains have accelerated over the past two years, that trend is only beginning to make up for … Continue reading
US – Union boost to nonunion pay has weakened
Pay for private-sector workers has barely budged over the past three and a half decades. In fact, for men in the private sector who lack a college degree and do not belong to a labor union, real wages today are substantially lower than they were in the late 1970s. In the debates over the causes … Continue reading
Minimum Wage in US – Only 5 percent of all employers believe the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) is fair
Three-quarters of Americans (75 percent) are living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet, according to a survey from CareerBuilder. Thirty-eight percent of employees said they sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, 15 percent said they usually do and 23 percent said they always do. While making ends meet is a struggle for many post-recession, those with minimum wage jobs … Continue reading
Digitalisation in the US – Significantly higher risk of job losses for workers with low wages
Digitalisation has a substantial impact on the labour market, by modifying skills needed, working conditions and job dynamics in the US. Concerning skills needs, individuals need new digital skills to respond to employers’ needs, but also to function well in society as whole. These skills range from basic digital literacy to advanced technical skills. Moreover, … Continue reading
The Teacher Pay Gap in US – Wider than ever
What this report finds: The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever. In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers—compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994. This erosion of relative teacher wages has fallen more heavily on experienced teachers than on entry-level teachers. Importantly, collective bargaining … Continue reading
US – The erosion in labor mobility and entrepreneurship since 2000 can be more accurately explained by weak demand
Academics and policymakers have recently focused on a worsening economic phenomenon commonly referred to as the decline in “business dynamism,” that is, the declining rate at which new businesses are formed and the rate at which they grow. This decline in dynamism and entrepreneurship accompanies a decline in overall labor market mobility, including quits and … Continue reading
Federal Minimum Wage in US – This week marks the seven-year anniversary of the last time it was raised
This week marks the seven-year anniversary of the last time the federal minimum wage was raised, from $6.55 to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. Since then, the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage has fallen by 10 percent as inflation has slowly eroded its value. However, this decline in the buying power of the … Continue reading
After the Great Recession – Americans past 60 have seen their employment and labor force participation rates increase
Unlike prime-age Americans, who have experienced declines in employment and labor force participation since the onset of the Great Recession, Americans past 60 have seen their employment and labor force participation rates increase. In order to understand the contrasting labor force developments among the old, on the one hand, and the prime-aged, on the other, … Continue reading
The 9-to-5 Day Work – Three in five workers believe it is a thing of the past
A typical work day historically involved eight consecutive hours of effort for full-time workers, but today, most don’t stop working when the clock hits 5 p.m. According to a new survey from CareerBuilder, nearly 3 in 5 workers (59 percent) believe the traditional 9-to-5 work day is a thing of the past. Forty-five percent of … Continue reading
College Education in US – Boost to career earnings much lower for individuals who grew up in lower-income families
A college education, it is hoped, will help the children of the poor and working class gain a larger share of the economic pie. But how much does college really pay off for lower-income Americans? Perhaps surprisingly, there has been little research on how family income background influences the career earnings boost from a college … Continue reading
Income Inequality in the US in 2013 – The top 1 percent of families nationally made 25.3 times as much as the bottom 99 percent
While economic inequality has been one of the hottest topics this presidential campaign season, much of the focus has been on the fortunes of the top 1 percent at the national level. This report, our third annual such analysis, uses the latest available data to examine how the top 1 percent in each state have … Continue reading
Community College in US – Just 15 percent acquire a 4-year degree
Community colleges are a vital part of America’s opportunity structure, not least because they often provide a way into higher education for adults from less advantaged backgrounds. Each year there are around 10 million undergraduates enrolled at public, two-year colleges. Among first-generation students, nearly 38 percent attend community colleges, compared to 20 percent of students … Continue reading
The decline in prime-age male labor force participation in US – A White House report
For more than sixty years, the share of American men between the ages of 25 and 54, or “prime- age men,” in the labor force has been declining. This fall in the prime-age male labor force participation rate, from a peak of 98 percent in 1954 to 88 percent today, is particularly troubling since workers … Continue reading
