[link removed]
[link removed]
** A waking nightmare. What needs to be done now? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
A note from EPI's Kirstyn Flood ([link removed]) : Last Friday’s jobs report was described as “a waking nightmare ([link removed]) ” by EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould because it exposed the harsh reality of unemployment during the coronavirus crisis: More than 20 million jobs lost in April—the highest rate since the Great Depression. For so many of us, the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and our daily lives is hard to process. EPI experts are here to provide analysis focused on a direction forward to ultimately lessen the economic blow on workers throughout the country.
** Jobs report shows 20.5 million jobs lost in April ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
EPI's Elise Gould writes: After a sharp fall in March, payroll employment dropped like a rock in April. I struggle to even put into words how large this drop is. It’s as if all the gains in employment since 2000 were wiped out. Total job losses over the last two months would fill all 30 currently empty Major League Baseball stadiums 16 times over. It’s as if all the jobs in all of the states beginning with the letter “M” simply disappeared in the last month. That’s all the jobs in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Montana combined.
The job losses in April were far more widespread than the job losses in March. There were acute losses in leisure and hospitality (-7.7 million), education and health services (-2.5 million), professional and business services (-2.1 million), retail trade (-2.1 million), manufacturing (-1.3 million), and other services (-1.3 million). Read the economic indicator » ([link removed])
Share the economic indicator:
** A waking nightmare: Jobs report shows 20.5 million jobs lost in April
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fwww.epi.org%2Fpress%2Fa-waking-nightmare-todays-jobs-report-shows-20-5-million-jobs-lost-in-april%2F Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fwww.epi.org%2Fpress%2Fa-waking-nightmare-todays-jobs-report-shows-20-5-million-jobs-lost-in-april%2F)
** The extra $600 in unemployment insurance has been the best response yet to the economic shock of the coronavirus and should be extended ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
The CARES Act, the $2 trillion-plus package to provide economic relief and recovery from the coronavirus shock in early April, was for many reasons deeply imperfect ([link removed]) . But the modifications the CARES Act made to the nation’s unemployment insurance (UI) system are an utterly crucial lifeline for tens of millions of American workers. Besides temporarily expanding the eligibility criteria for who qualifies for unemployment benefits through the end of the year and providing an additional 13 weeks of state UI benefits, the CARES Act also provided an extra $600 per week in UI payments through the end of July. Read the blog post » ([link removed])
** Congress must include worker protections in the next coronavirus relief bill ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Congress has now passed four separate relief and recovery measures allocating trillions of dollars in aid, but none have provided meaningful protections to working people. Workers continue to be required to work without protective gear. Sick workers continue to lack access to paid sick leave. And when workers try and speak up for themselves and each other, they are fired. Workers are dying as a result. Read the blog post » ([link removed])
EPI Policy Associate Margaret Poydock explains ([link removed]) how executive agencies are taking measures under President Trump to undercut protections for millions of workers. Watch the video » ([link removed])
** As economic forecasts worsen, up to $1 trillion in federal aid to state and local governments could be needed by the end of 2021 ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
As the next round of legislative relief and recovery packages are debated, federal aid to state and local governments has emerged as a high priority. This aid is absolutely crucial for avoiding a deep and prolonged recession.
Key takeaways:
* Congress should prioritize federal aid to state and local governments in the next relief and recovery legislation.
* New estimates show that the economic shock of the coronavirus could lead to a revenue shortfall of nearly $1 trillion by 2021 for state and local governments.
* Unemployment is forecast to be quite elevated even by the end of 2021, and so federal aid should continue as long as economic conditions warrant, and not be set by arbitrary timelines. Read the blog post » ([link removed])
** The pandemic sparked more appreciation for teachers, but will it give them a voice in education and their working conditions? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
This year’s National Teacher Appreciation Week happened under the unprecedented hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on us. The health emergency forced the closing of schools all over the country, sending over 55 million K‒12 students and about four million teachers home for the remainder of the school year.
But amidst the pain so many are enduring is a bright spot: Some teachers feel the appreciation is deeper than ever before.
With so much at stake in the aftermath of this crisis, this can be an opportunity to turn that appreciation into the fuel that will finally restore the prestige of the teaching profession and improve teachers’ working conditions. Read the blog post » ([link removed])
** Thank you, D.C. Board of Elections, for making voting easier: I dedicate my favorite rap song to you ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
EPI's Jhacova Williams writes: As I awoke today, preparing myself for another workday by listening to music, one of my favorite songs, “Foldin Clothes” by J. Cole, had me “feeling like best version of me so happy,” just one of the great lyrics from the rap song.
Why was I so happy? I got an email from the D.C. Board of Elections describing voting procedures that were much easier than in my home state of Louisiana, which recently passed an election plan that limits who has access to mail-in ballots. The email invited me, a new resident to Washington, to request a mail-in ballot for the 2020 election cycle, which could be done one of six ways: online, email, fax, mail, phone, or in person. Read the blog post » ([link removed])
** Upcoming EPI webinars
------------------------------------------------------------
** TODAY: The System—Who Rigged It, How We Fix It with former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Join former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on May 13 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT for a discussion of The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It ([link removed]) . In his new book, Reich, an Economic Policy Institute founder, explores America’s power system that he says is designed to bail out corporations rather than people, even in times of crisis. Corporations and the wealthy few benefit from what he calls a socialism for the rich—in which they hold nearly all of the country’s economic and political power—while everyone else is left to endure the harsh realities of capitalism. Register for the webinar » ([link removed])
** The Pandemic, the Economic Crisis, and Just Transition with EPI President Thea Lee ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
EPI President Thea Lee will join a panel of experts on May 27 at 8 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. MT for a discussion of life after the current economic crisis and what we must do about it. Join Lee, Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, historian, and philosopher, to hear their projections of how the crisis will unfold in the months and years to come. This webinar is a part of the Just Transition Listening Project, ([link removed]) launched by the Labor Network for Sustainability and partners. Register for the webinar » ([link removed])
** EPI in the news
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
EPI Economist Ben Zipperer discussed with Reuters ([link removed]) the findings of EPI's recent survey ([link removed]) on unemployment filing failures, which found that millions of jobless workers were unable to file an unemployment insurance (UI) claim, indicating that the official count of UI claims drastically understates the need for economic relief. | Millions of Americans Locked Out of Unemployment System, Survey Finds ([link removed])
[link removed]
The St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune ([link removed]) featured an op-ed by EPI Director of Government Affairs Celine McNicholas in honor of Workers Memorial Day on April 28—a day to remember workers killed or injured on the job. The op-ed spotlighted Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia’s failure to strengthen protections for millions of workers. | OPINION: Workers Memorial Day Highlights Secretary of Labor Scalia’s Failure to Protect Workers During the Coronavirus Crisis ([link removed])
[link removed]
EPI Director of Research Josh Bivens wrote an opinion piece for In These Times ([link removed]) on the debt crisis, citing EPI research on the economic effects ([link removed]) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and what the next coronavirus relief package ([link removed]) should look like. | Don’t Believe the Debt Hawks—More Stimulus Is the Only Path to Recovery ([link removed])
[link removed]
Daniel Costa, EPI Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research, joined Cheddar ([link removed]) to discuss immigrant labor in the agricultural workforce and the lack of worker protections amid the coronavirus pandemic, an issue he discussed in a March report ([link removed]) . | The Global Food Supply Chain Relies on Immigrants ([link removed])
[link removed]
Vox ([link removed]) included EPI Director of Policy Heidi Shierholz in an explainer video on whether the U.S. can prevent millions of more workers from losing their jobs during the pandemic. | Millions of Americans Are Losing Their Jobs. It Doesn’t Have to be That Way. ([link removed])
Follow EPI on Instagram ([link removed])
** What we’re reading
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
**
------------------------------------------------------------
How Chris Hayes Makes Sense of the “World-Historical Cataclysm” ([link removed])
Before the coronavirus pandemic reshaped media priorities, along with just about everything else, the MSNBC host Chris Hayes was spending most of his time covering the Democratic presidential nomination and the transformation of the Democratic Party, of which Hayes himself was arguably a harbinger. Read more » ([link removed])
[link removed]
The Pandemic Has Exposed the Fallacy of the “Ideal Worker” ([link removed])
With most of us working from home these days, the American workday has increased by 40%—roughly three hours a day and the largest increase in the world. Read more » ([link removed])
Share this newsletter:
EPI News: Extra $600 in unemployment needs to be extended to mitigate economic shock
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2Fg3pJDv Tweet ([link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2Fg3pJDv)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
============================================================
** Donate to EPI ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** epi.org ([link removed])
** View this email in your browser ([link removed])
| ** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])