Labor

We’re getting awfully close to what economists call full employment. It means that unemployment is low enough that everyone who wants a job can pretty much find one. So if you push the unemployment rate a whole lot lower, you start to get imbalances in the economy, like acute labor shortages in some sectors and […]

President Donald Trump announced that he’s got a new pick for Labor secretary, R. Alexander Acosta. Recall his previous nominee, Andrew Puzder, dropped out after a good deal of backlash and potential looming scandals. Acosta is formerly of the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Justice, and, most recently, dean of the law […]

The productivity report out today had some pretty dismal numbers. Nonfarm productivity was up in the fourth quarter by a 1.3 percent annual rate; average growth in 2016 fell to 0.2 percent. Productivity has now grown less than 1 percent for the past six consecutive years. What might help explain this? Are we measuring the […]

Nineteen states kicked off 2017 by increasing the minimum wage — some because of cost of living increases, others because of ballot initiatives or legislation. Economists agree that even significant hikes cost minimal job loss, although those generally come at the lowest end of the wage scale. And there’s also little evidence that the minimum […]

Positions that support Commerce and Labor still need filling.