There has a been a lot of chatter about the shrinkage in the U.S. labor force. Brad Delong takes us to two fed studies and Rorty Bomb provides the analysis. This graph from Ezra Klein shows the long-term and accelerated decline in labor force participation: As the graph points out, the labor force participation rate…
Income and Work
Today the Governor officially ordered Workforce WV to begin drug testing those enrolled in job training programs (see below press release). What was not mentioned was that these programs are completely funded by federal dollars and that they mostly go to the "disadvantaged and at-risk youth, adults, and dislocated workers." However, the big question is…
Our friends at the CBPP have released a new report today debunking the "Texas economic miracle" of the Great Recession. The report lists several factors for why Texas has weathered the recession better than most states. Two of these factors, including a lack of a housing bubble and above average employment in natural resource extraction,…
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or stimulus bill, has continued to boost the economy throughout 2011, and will continue to do so through 2012 and into 2013. According to the report, the stimulus increased employment in the 4th quarter of 2011 by between 400,000…
Signs of Life as West Virginia Added 2,200 Jobs in October - West Virginia added 2,200 jobs in October, reversing three months of nearly zero net job growth. Total nonfarm employment in West Virginia now stands at 754,300, its highest level since February 2009. In October, 1,970 workers joined the labor force, keeping the unemployment rate…
Although West Virginia has weathered the Great Recession better than most states, the state’s jobs deficit and high unemployment rate give West Virginia workers little to celebrate this 2011 Labor Day. With a jobs deficit of over 20,000 and with the number of unemployed workers double what it was three years ago, the labor market…
Governors and legislators across the country are targeting public sector compensation as they try to cut spending and rein in budget deficits. To justify cuts to wages and benefit packages, the argument is that public sector workers have it better than their private sector counterparts. What is the situation in West Virginia? An analysis by…
The most important asset to a firm is the presence of a well-trained and productive workforce. One effective way the state achieves this goal is through the Governor's Guaranteed Workforce Training Program, which provides businesses and workers with customized job training. Customized, state-funded job training funding is a vital piece in providing the resources…
In The State of Working West Virginia: The Road to Recovery 2010, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy examines how the 2009 Recovery Act and other federal programs benefited West Virginians, how the Great Recession caused the loss of good paying industry jobs and how the gap between the rich and the poor…
Recent federal action, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), has likely saved 56,000 West Virginia jobs and prevented a high unemployment rate from escalating further. Read