Recently in Economy Category

Source: Congressional Budget Office, August 2010

From the blog post:
Looking at recorded spending to date as well as estimates of the other effects of ARRA on spending and revenues, CBO has estimated the law's impact on employment and economic output using evidence about the effects of previous similar policies on the economy and using various mathematical models that represent the workings of the economy. On that basis, CBO estimates that in the second quarter of calendar year 2010, ARRA's policies:

* Raised the level of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by between 1.7 percent and 4.5 percent,
* Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points,
* Increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million, and
* Increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 2.0 million to 4.8 million compared with what those amounts would have been otherwise. (Increases in FTE jobs include shifts from part-time to full-time work or overtime and are thus generally larger than increases in the number of employed workers.)

Source: Tod Newcombe, Governing, August 2010

Like so many other public-sector services caught up in this recession, libraries have seen demand for their services rise dramatically while budget cuts have forced them to make painful reductions in the very services the public wants. In particular, local governments are reducing operating hours. According to a recent study by the American Library Association (ALA), nearly one-quarter of urban libraries are reporting fewer hours in 2009, compared to a 15 percent reduction for libraries overall.

Source: Lawrence Mishel, Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute, Briefing Paper #277, August 31, 2010

From the summary:
Since the recession started in December 2007, a great deal of attention has been paid to the dramatic loss of jobs, decline in hiring, and the resulting high unemployment in the U.S. labor market. It is important to note, however, that the damaging effects of high unemployment are not just felt by the workers (and the families of workers) who have lost jobs. Workers who have kept their jobs or found new work during this downturn have also suffered from a broad-based collapse of wage growth over the last two years. And with unemployment expected to remain elevated for many years to come, we do not expect the suppression of wage growth to ease anytime soon.

Source: National Employment Law Project, Data Brief, August 27, 2010

While technically the Great Recession may have ended sometime in the second half of 2009, it is clear that the US economy is mired in a tepid recovery at best. Job growth is anemic and not nearly strong enough to make up for two years' worth of job losses or move the needle on unemployment.

That said, over the past seven months the private sector has seen a net gain of 630,000 jobs, giving us the opportunity to take a first look at where the jobs are growing, and what types of opportunities they are providing to America's workers - job seekers, new labor market entrants, and current job holders.

In this data brief, we use a unique synthesis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data to track private industry employment and wages from December 2007 (the start of the recession) through July 2010 (the most recent month of data available).

Source: Raghuram G. Rajan, The New Republic, August 27, 2010

By most counts, the U.S. economy started growing in the middle of last year. For many Americans, though, it does not feel as if the Great Recession has ended--unemployment and underemployment are still alarmingly high, and job growth is weak. Many causes have been suggested for both the economic collapse and mediocre recovery, but one that is hardly ever mentioned is income inequality. This is a mistake. Growing income inequality in the United States and the policy responses it has spawned have done tremendous damage to our economy. And because we continue to ignore this underlying problem, the risks of our policies leading to another calamity will not go away, no matter what we do to reform the financial sector.

Source: Dante Chinni, PBS Newshour, Patchwork Nation, August 11, 2010

In the past year-plus the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has pumped hundreds of billions into the U.S. economy. Yet, the slump continues. Why? Has the stimulus had an impact? Has it made things better than they would have been without the stimulus - a frequent argument of the Obama administration?

With the help of ProPublica, a non-profit investigative news operation, Patchwork Nation has sorted through the first year of ARRA funding and found two things, both of them somewhat disconcerting.

First, when you look at how the money was disbursed using Patchwork Nation's 12 county types, the places that need the most help have not done as well as some other communities. Second, even taking that "misplaced disbursement" into account, the money pushed into U.S. communities is significant and still sluggish economy suggests a the hole in the U.S. economy is massive.
Related:
Data Show Stimulus Isn't Reaching the Nation's Neediest Counties and States
Source: Marian Wang, ProPublica, August 12, 2010

Source: U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, Fact Sheet, August 10, 2010

From the press release:
The Great Recession caused the steepest decline in state and local tax receipts on record as nearly every revenue source took a hit. Rising unemployment and plummeting business profits drove down state income tax receipts. Sales tax receipts declined as consumer spending slowed and property taxes dropped as the housing market collapsed and housing valuations fell. Fewer home sales translated into lost revenues from property transactions. Even after making deep spending cuts over the last two years, state and local governments continue to face severe budget gaps. These spending cuts have led to unprecedented reductions in state government spending for two consecutive fiscal years.

Source: GuideStar, June 2010

A survey of public charity and private foundation employees was conducted online from June 14, 2010, until June 28, 2010. Te purposes of the survey were to explore how charitable organizations fared during the first five months of 2010 and to try to gauge the effect of the downturn in the economy on the American nonprofit sector. There were 7,014 usable responses, 6,434 (92 percent) from public charities and 580 (8 percent) from private foundations.

It has been, and continues to be, a difficult financial environment for nonprofits. About 40 percent of respondents have seen further declines in contributions in the first five months of 2010 at the same time that a majority (63 percent) have seen an increase in demand for their services. Even organizations that have stopped the bleeding are concerned.
Related:
- 2010 State of the Sector Survey Full Results
Source: Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2010
- In Their Own Words: Voices from the 2010 State of the Sector Survey
Source: Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2010

Source: DataCenter and the National Organizers Alliance, June 2010

From the summary:
At the 2010 US Social Forum NOA and the DataCenter released Sustaining Organizing: A Survey of Organizations During the Economic Downturn, an analysis of a survey conducted with 203 organizations engaged in community organizing and movement building work. The study looks at the impact of the recession on our work and resources.

The DataCenter and the National Organizers Alliance are conducting the Sustaining Organizing Study to document the impact of the economic downturn on organizing and movement building organizations. There already have been many studies and reports that have documented the impact on the non-profit sector as a whole. One study found that 9 in 10 organizations will not break even this year and that only 16% expect to cover their operating expenses in 2009 and 2010. Almost half of organizations are planning to manage the downturn through program reduction or elimination and staff or salary cuts. Our study aims to uncover how the downturn is affecting organizing and what strategies and best practices are being used to sustain the work through this period.

Source: Sylvia A. Allegretto, Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, Policy Brief, August 2010

Te economy needs jobs, jobs, jobs and more jobs--this is not news to the 25 million unemployed and underemployed workers who continue to bear the hardships of the Great Recession. Workers have grown weary and families once bending are now breaking under the strain. Te severe crisis of jobs in the United States and, particularly, in California seems to be lost as austerity dominates the policy dialogue in Washington, DC. In California, another round of cuts and anti-stimulus measures are under- way and they will move the state further away from recovery. Te downturn has hit the state especially hard and given its size and importance in the U.S. economy it is hard to imagine a robust recovery without the Golden State.

The onset of what was to become the Great Recession started in December 2007. Job losses were at first mild but then fell of a cliff the latter half of 2008 coinciding with the bursting of the housing bubble and the resultant implosion of many financial institutions. Situating this labor market in a historical context provides important insights and perspective into the current situation and what we may expect. This paper documents the fallout from the Great Recession by detailing key labor market statistics--the realities are harsh and should give pause to those advocating for economic austerity. A massive jobs bill and aid to struggling states should be top priority.