Recently in Unemployment Category

Source: Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson, ProPublica, 2010

The unemployment insurance system is in crisis due to a combination skyrocketing unemployment and - in some cases - poor planning. A record 20 million Americans collected unemployment benefits last year, and twenty-six states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes, or cut benefits. In many other states the situation is deteriorating fast. Using near real-time data on state revenues and the benefits they pay out, we estimate how long state trust funds will hold up. Click on a state to find the latest, plus historical data, and details on tax increases and benefit cuts. Updated weekly.

Source: Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada, Center for Labor Market Studies Northeastern University, February 2010

From the Wall Street Journal Blog:
For those wondering why luxury spending is back even as unemployment hovers close to 10%, consider this: unemployment among the affluent is only 3%.

According to a study from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Studies, unemployment for those in the top income decile-individuals earning more than $150,000 a year-was 3% in the fourth quarter of 2009. That compares with unemployment of 31% for the bottom 10% of income, and unemployment of 9% for the middle decile.

The differing rates of underemployment-including those working part-time for economic reasons-are also notable. Underemployment for the top 10% was 1.6%, while the bottom was 21%.

In other words, the top 10% is experiencing what economists would consider full employment.

Source: John Schmitt and Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, December 2009

We use Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on the economy since 2007 and Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections of economic performance through 2012 to estimate the total loss of wages and salaries resulting from the decrease in employment in the current downturn.

Using a methodology that produces a conservative estimate of expected losses, we find that the fall in employment from its 2007 levels will cost U.S. workers just over $1 trillion in lost wages and salaries during the five-year period 2008-2012.

The estimated lost wages and salaries exceed - by about $150 billion - the CBO's estimate of the full ten-year cost of the health-care reform bill that recently passed in the House of Representatives.

Source: Rutgers University, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Workforce Advisor, November 2009

On Friday, October 30, 2009, the Heldrich Center presented a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the Great Recession and what the government is doing and might do to stabilize the U.S. economy, stem the loss of jobs, and accelerate economic recovery and opportunity.

Speakers included Erica Groshen, Regional Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Dr. William M. Rodgers III, Professor of Public Policy at Rutgers' Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and former Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor; and Dr. Norman J. Glickman, University Professor at Rutgers University. Dr. Carl Van Horn, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Heldrich Center, moderated the panel, which explored the economic, social, and political impact of high, long-term unemployment on the nation's workforce and communities.

Available for download are Ms. Groshen's presentation as well as Dr. Glickman's presentation.

Also available are videos of the keynote presentations. Ms. Groshen's presentation is available in three segments: part one, part two, and part three. Dr. Glickman's presentation is available in two segments: part one and part two. Finally, Dr. Rodgers' presentation is available in three segments: part one, part two, and part three.

Source: Anna Turner, Economic Policy Institute, EPI Fact Sheet, September 4, 2009

Highlights include:
• Total Jobs Lost During The Recession: 6.9 Million
• Unemployment Rate: 9.7%
• States With Double-Digit Unemployment In July, 2009: 16; When This Last Happened: 1983
• Increase In Average U.S. Worker's Productivity, 2000-07: 19.2%
• Expected New Spending (12-Months) From The New $7.25 Minimum Wage: $5.5 Billion
• Americans Uninsured In 2007: 45 Million
• Share Of People Near Retirement Age With A 401(K) Balance Under $40,000 In 2007: 50%
• Workplaces With No Contract More Than Three Years After Election Is Won: 25%
• Annualized Rate Of Economic Contraction, 2nd Quarter, 2009: 1%

Source: Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience, August 28, 2009

Simply worrying about losing your job can cost you your health, a new investigation of data from two long-term studies finds.

Surprisingly, the effect is worse than actually losing your job, the research suggests.
See also:
Perceived Job Insecurity and Worker Health in the United States
Source: Sarah A. Burgard, Jennie E. Brand and James S. House, PSC Research Report No. 08-650, July 2008.

Source: U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, August 6, 2009

From the press release:
Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Chair of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), along with Rep. Elijah Cummings and Rep. Jim Moran released a JEC new report entitled, "Comprehensive Health Insurance Reform: An Essential Prescription for Women." The report reveals that during the recession, women are experiencing a double-whammy of lost health insurance as they lose their insurance due to either their own or their spouse's job loss. In addition, the JEC report chronicles the vulnerability created by women's dependence on their spouse's employer-sponsored health insurance, the unique risk of un-insurance for younger and older women, and the spike in newly uninsured children of unemployed single mothers.

Source: Hewitt Associates, August 18, 2009

A new analysis from Hewitt Associates, a global human resources company, reveals that COBRA enrollments have doubled since the U.S. government enacted a new subsidy to make health insurance more affordable to millions of laid-off Americans.

With unemployment rates at their highest in over 25 years, more than 14 million workers are now eligible for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Hewitt's analysis examined the COBRA enrollment activity for 200 large U.S. companies representing 8 million employees. From March 2009 to June 2009, monthly COBRA enrollment rates for Americans eligible for the subsidy averaged 38 percent, up from 19 percent for the period of September 2008 through February 2009.

Under the original COBRA legislation, involuntarily terminated workers were required to pay 100 percent of the health care premium plus an additional 2 percent to cover administrative costs. According to Hewitt data, this translates to roughly $8,800 a year in COBRA health care costs for the average worker. Under ARRA, eligible workers receive a nine-month subsidy that leaves them responsible for paying only 35 percent of the COBRA premium, or about $3,000 a year. Hewitt research shows that on average, workers with employer-sponsored health coverage pay 22 percent of the premium cost, or $1,900 a year.

Source: Donald J. Boyd, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, Fiscal Studies, August 20, 2009

While the private sector has lost nearly 7 million jobs since the recession began, state and local governments have added jobs, a new Institute report shows. Over the past year, total state- local employment rose in 30 states and dropped in 16. Many public employers have cut jobs in recent months, however, and further cuts are expected.

Source: Algernon Austin, Economic Policy Institute, EPI Issue Brief #257, July 21, 2009

From the summary:
The labor market crisis is breaking national records each month, with no end in sight. The heaviest burden is falling on blacks and Hispanics, who are contending with much higher unemployment rates than whites nationally--about one-and-a-half times as high for Hispanics and twice as high for blacks. According to an updated analysis through the second quarter of 2009 and new projections through 2010, the trend has worsened and is likely to continue to do so.
See also:
State Unemployment Trends by Race, Ethnicity and Gender