economy « Washington Policy Watch

January 25, 2012 • 8:02 am 0

Unemployed Face Fewer Jobs, Fewer Hours, and Smaller Safety Net

Unemployment remains persistently high, despite the “official” end of the recession in June of 2009. But recent improvements in the overall unemployment rate don’t tell the whole story. The “shadow” unemployment rate, which includes unemployed, underemployed, underutilized and discouraged workers, is a more accurate representation, including workers who have given up looking for jobs, and those who have exhausted UI benefits.

Part-time employment shot up during the recession, both for men and women. In 2010, men’s part-time employment rates declined, probably because many of them returned to full-time work. Yet women’s rate of part-time employment remained high, peaking at almost 38%. More men than women worked part-time due to economic reasons, meaning they wanted full-time work but could not find it. Even so, the percentage of women working part-time for economic reasons nearly doubled from 2007 to 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: state economy, economy, jobs, shadow unemployment, unemployment rate, Washington, women in the workforce

January 19, 2012 • 8:25 am 0

Seattle Business Magazine: Keep the Minimum Wage High

From the Seattle Business Magazine | By John Levesque

Now is not the time for Washington state to scale back on providing a decent living wage.

You probably heard this one before: Having a job is the new raise.

True enough. In this desultory economy, few workers are likely to barge into the boss’s office demanding a raise and a company car. They’re just happy to have a boss. But some jobholders in Washington state actually got a sweet pay hike this month. On January 1, the state’s minimum wage went from $8.67 an hour to $9.04 an hour—the highest minimum wage among the 50 states.

Woo-hoo! For minimum-wage earners lucky enough to work a 40-hour schedule, that pencils out to an extra 15 bucks a week. Those keeping score at home will note that this latest increase takes the annual gross for a minimum-wage worker in Washington from $18,033 to $18,803 a year. A family of three is officially “poor” in this country if its income is $18,530 or less, so one way to look at the 37-cent pay raise is that it lifted at least some people out of “official” poverty and into, well, the outskirts of poverty.

As ridiculous as it sounds, that’s something to be proud of. Elsewhere in this issue, an academician suggests that forgoing this year’s increase in the minimum wage might create more jobs and help jump-start the economy. He may be right, but do we really need to rescue the economy on the backs of those who can least afford to carry out the offensive?

Filed under: minimum wage, business, economy, Employment, job, Minimum wage, poverty, washington state

December 22, 2011 • 10:20 am 0

Today: John Burbank on KUOW’s The Conversation

Tune in to KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds today at noon (or a little after) to hear John Burbank, EOI’s Executive Director, talk about how government spending and stimulus has helped to create and sustain tens of thousands of jobs in Washington state during the recession.

Filed under: tax and budget, economy, Government spending, stimulus, the conversation

November 21, 2011 • 1:30 pm 0

More rough economic seas ahead for Washington’s women unless legislators act

Policy Brief: Rough Seas for Washington Women

With the official end of the Great Recession two and a half years behind us, few people have seen any economic gains – and many are worse off than at the height of the recession, including women and children.

There’s no doubt men have experienced higher unemployment rates than women throughout the recession and recovery. However, antiquated workplace policies have put women at greater economic disadvantages than their male counterparts. As a result, economic downturns tend to exacerbate the vulnerabilities experienced by women and their families.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: state economy, work and family, American Community Survey, benefits, children, economy, poverty, unemployment, united states, Washington, women

Washington Policy Watch

Unemployed Face Fewer Jobs, Fewer Hours, and Smaller Safety Net

Seattle Business Magazine: Keep the Minimum Wage High

Today: John Burbank on KUOW’s The Conversation

More rough economic seas ahead for Washington’s women unless legislators act

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