Labor Markets | Econofact

Immigrant Earnings and Out-Migration from the United States

By Randall Akee·May 8, 2019
University of California, Los Angeles

The Issue:

Immigrants currently make up about one out of every six workers in the U.S. civilian labor force. While the share of immigrants in the labor force has grown over the past few decades, immigration is not a one-way flow into the United States: There is significant turnover, with many of the foreign-born

The Mexican Border and U.S. Trade: What Would Be the Impact of a Border Closure?

By Kadee Russ and Aaron Sojourner·April 13, 2019
University of California, Davis and University of Minnesota

(Click here for state by state sales to Mexico.)

The Issue:

Recently, the Trump Administration proposed closing the U.S. border with Mexico. The United States has strong economic ties with Mexico and such an action could have ripple effects across the country. Concerns about the possibility of a closure following

Is the Skills Gap Real? Changes in Employer Skill Requirements During the Great Recession

By Alicia Sasser Modestino·March 8, 2019
School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

The Issue:

Since the Great Recession, employers have cited a skills gap in which workers lack the education and experience needed to fill vacant jobs. In response, federal and state policymakers have called for increased efforts for training and retraining of workers to alleviate this mismatch in the labor market.

Concentrated Poverty and the Disconnect Between Jobs and Workers

By David Neumark·January 22, 2019
University of California, Irvine

The Issue:

High levels of joblessness have been characteristic of extremely high-poverty neighborhoods in primarily urban settings. Many challenges stand in the way of generating jobs in these areas. These include low skills among potential workers, inadequate and decaying infrastructure, racial discrimination in ...
Read more

Understanding Trends in U.S. Labor Force Participation (VIDEO)

By Karen Dynan and Jay C. Shambaugh·December 3, 2018
Harvard University and George Washington University and The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution

Excerpt from webinar with Karen Dynan (Harvard University), Jay Shambaugh (George Washington University, and The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution), and Eduardo Porter (New York Times), October 23, 2018. A collaboration between EconoFact and The Hamilton Project, Brookings.

The Issue:

The share of ...
Read more

Who Benefits from a Higher Minimum Wage?

By Jonathan Meer·November 27, 2018
Texas A&M University

The Issue:

Raising the minimum wage is broadly viewed as a policy that combats poverty. Most of the focus of the debate over the minimum wage has been on whether raising it leads to job losses, but an overlooked key point is which workers see their wages rise with an increase in the minimum wage.

The workers who

How Can We Know if There is Discrimination in Hiring?

By David Neumark·October 27, 2018
University of California, Irvine

The Issue:

Groups of workers that differ by personal characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, past criminal record, physical appearance or disability often exhibit measurable differences in wages and employment. However, it is difficult to identify and measure the extent to which differences ...
Read more

The Chilling Effect of Non-Compete Agreements

By Matt Marx and Ryan Nunn·May 20, 2018
Boston University and The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution

The Issue:

American workers are often asked to sign away their right to work through non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Non-competes restrict a person's ability to work for or to start rival firms, leaving workers with diminished bargaining power and fewer options for pursuing career opportunities. It ...
Read more

Race and Ethnicity Within Widening Income Inequality in the United States

By Randall Akee·May 10, 2018
University of California, Los Angeles

(A ratio of 1 means representation in the top 10 percent is commensurate with a group's representation in the overall labor force. A ratio greater than 1 represents an overrepresentation of that group in the top decile and a ratio of less than 1 represents an underrepresentation).

The Issue:

There are significant ...
Read more