ERIC Number: ED542947
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Feb-4
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Broader Look at the U.S. Employment Situation and the Importance of a Good Education
Greenstone, Michael; Looney, Adam
Hamilton Project
The January employment numbers, released today by the U.S. Department of Labor, present mixed evidence about the state of the labor market. While the unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent, payrolls were just better than flat, increasing by only 36,000 jobs last month. Much attention is given to the official unemployment rate, which is certainly an important indicator of our employment situation. But, in fact, the unemployment rate tends to understate the severity of the challenge for American workers in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In this month's posting, The Hamilton Project provides a more comprehensive look at the U.S. employment situation, focusing on a broader measure of the unemployed. In addition, the authors examine the impacts of education on unemployment and the widening gap between the least- and best-educated workers. Finally, they continue their focus on the "jobs gap," or the number of jobs the economy needs in order to return to return to pre-recession employment levels while absorbing the 125,000 people who enter the labor force each month.
Descriptors: Employment Level, Employment Patterns, Labor, Labor Market, Labor Force, Unemployment, Labor Economics, Trend Analysis, Educational Attainment, Economic Impact, Supply and Demand, Labor Needs, Labor Supply
Hamilton Project. Available from: Brookings Institution. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-797-6484; Fax: 202-741-6575; e-mail: info@hamiltonproject.org; Web site: http://www.hamiltonproject.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Brookings Institution, Hamilton Project
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A