- With no new jobs in August, calls for urgent action, By Shaila Dewan, September 2, 2011, New York Times: “The nation’s employers failed to add new jobs in August, a strong signal that the economy has stalled and that policy makers can no longer afford inaction. The dismal showing, the first time in 11 months that total payrolls did not rise, was the latest indication that the jobs recovery that began in 2010 lacked momentum. The unemployment rate for August did not budge, remaining at 9.1 percent…”
- Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years, By Annalyn Censky, September 2, 2011, CNNMoney.com: “The August jobs report was dismal for plenty of reasons, but perhaps most striking was the picture it painted of racial inequality in the job market. Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%, the Labor Department reported…”
- In jobless data, devil may be in details, By Yuki Noguchi, September 2, 2011, National Public Radio: “The Labor Department releases its reports on August unemployment on Friday. What economists are expecting is by now a familiar story: That August did not generate enough job growth to move the needle on the jobless rate. But the most intractable part of the jobless problem might be the one that doesn’t show up in the numbers. The unemployment rate is expected to tick up slightly to 9.2 percent. Two years ago, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. Although that sounds like an improvement, you have to look at the reason for that decline to know the whole story, says Howard Rosen, an economist at the Peterson Institute…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty