- Researcher: Low-wage job numbers a ’cause for concern’, By Marcos Restrepo, July 26, 2011, Florida Independent: “That Florida unemployment remained steady during the month of June and added manufacturing jobs are positive signs, but according to researcher Emily Eisenhauer, jobs have been added in low-wage industries. Eisenhauer, an associate at the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at Florida International University, says that Florida still has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the U.S., but unemployment has come down over the last six months. The state has adding more than 85,000 jobs, but according to Eisenhauer, Florida is still missing about 700,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession in December 2007…”
- High-pay jobs decline as low-pay jobs increase, By Alana Semuels, July 27, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “John Soto said he felt like he got “punched in the gut” when BMW announced that it planned to lay off him and other workers at an Ontario parts distribution warehouse and give their jobs to contract workers provided by a third-party company. “They wouldn’t do this in Germany,” said Soto, 46, referring to the labor-friendly policies in the country where BMWs are manufactured…
- “Lower-paying jobs dominate recovery, By Alana Semuels, July 26, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “The majority of jobs being created in this economic recovery are lower-paying ones, while higher-paying positions have been slow to return, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Employment Law Project. Lower-wage occupations such as sales and office clerks, cashiers and food preparation workers grew 3.2% in the first quarter of 2011 from a year earlier, the report said. In contrast, higher-wage jobs such as registered nurses, engineers and finance workers declined by 1.2%. Mid-wage positions such as paralegals, customer service representatives and machinists grew by 1.2%…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty