By Frank Stricker The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that the official unemployment rate rose a tenth of a point to 4% in May. It had stayed under 4% for 27 months. When we at the National Jobs for All Network include hidden unemployment—job-wanters not searching, including… Read More What Labor Shortages? The Government Jobs Report for May 2024
By Frank Stricker May 22, 2024 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the official unemployment rate stayed below 4% for the 27th month in a row. It’s a good record but not unique. Unemployment was under 4% for all but two months from May 2018 through February 2020. And as war spending helped… Read More The April 2024 Report: Jobs and Joblessness in the U.S.
On April 15, 2025, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) introduced the Gig Is Up Act, which would push companies to treat gig workers fairly. The bill would require companies with at least $100 million in revenues, and that employ at least 10,000 independent contractors, to pay for both the employer’s and the worker’s payroll tax contributions to Social… Read More Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman Introduces Gig is Up Act to End Exploitation of Gig Workers
By Frank Stricker April 12, 2024 In the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Employment Situation–March 2024, the unemployment rate was 3.8%. It has been under 4% for two years and that is a positive. But if we add to the unemployment numbers involuntary part-timers (people who want full-time work) and job hunters who are not… Read More No Recession, But Wages Are Kinda Stuck
By Frank Stricker A Failed Number Does the Federal Government regularly publish estimates of what a reasonably comfortable living standard would be for an average household? There must be something somewhere. A government agency does publish poverty lines–aka, poverty thresholds–and its experts tell us how many people fall below… Read More (Mostly) Useful Government Numbers About Poverty, Jobs, and Unemployment, including the Latest Employment Report for February 2024
