skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Job Growth Slow, Steady, but Not Stable Enough

play audio
Play

Wednesday, December 16, 2015   

SEATTLE - For people looking for work or a better job, one expert says a possible Federal Reserve Board move to raise its key interest rate for the first time in almost a decade isn't great news.

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce just released a report on job growth, describing it as steady but sluggish. The report focused on 6.4 million jobs that it said would have been created since 2008 - but weren't, because of the economic slowdown.

Center director Tony Carnevale said raising interest rates will do more for bankers than the rest of the business world.

"I think there's nervousness about this, and we're seeing recovery in the economy, but it's a limping recovery," he said. "That's true both for people with education and those people without. So, one of the questions that's up now, very much at the moment, is, 'Are we there yet?' And the answer is no."

In Washington, 200,000 jobs have been created over pre-recession levels since 2008. Without the recession, that figure would be 80,000 to 90,000 jobs higher. If job growth continues at its current pace, the Georgetown report said, it will be 2020 before the economic recovery is complete.

The report said jobs for college-educated workers are growing at a faster pace than for those without higher education, a trend also evident in the Seattle area. But nationally, it said, nearly one-third of all workers now are in temporary, part-time or freelance jobs. Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, said that's a real concern.

"I think it also underscores, when we look at the occupational mix, that even in the best of circumstances, not everyone is going to be a software engineer," she said. "So, we really do need to make sure that all of the jobs are really high-quality jobs, where people can support themselves and have a family."

According to the report, the underemployment rate - people who are working at jobs beneath their skill levels and want something better - is almost 10 percent.

The report is online at cew.georgetown.edu.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021