IN a letter to the editor published in the PPH, a writer suggests that Maine’s recent poor grades handed out by the Ball State University’s 2014 Manufacturing and Logistics National Report indicates that “high taxes deter manufacturing” in Maine. The author writes: One needs only to compare Maine’s tax structure with that of a state […]
“The structure of a modern economy does not change that quickly. The demographic composition of the labor force, its educational breakdown and even the industrial mix did not differ much between 2007 and 2009.” –Edward Lazear WHILE doing some research on a post re: the skills gap in Maine, I came across something rather interesting. […]
AN analysis done by Economic Modeling Specialists International and Career Builder (the site has an interactive map that I cannot properly embed here) examined the change in employment levels for millennials and baby-boomers in the nation’s 175 metro areas. The analysis found that boomers are comprising a larger percentage of the workforce, while employment for […]
THE Brookings Institute released a study earlier this week arguing that “the impact of student loans may not be as dire as many commentators fear.” The authors of the study arrive at this conclusion by examining data from the Federal Reserve tracking student loan debt between 1989 and 2010. Their key findings include: Roughly one-quarter […]
LAST week, the jobs data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that Maine’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.7%, but that the economy 4,900 jobs. While these numbers indicate steady growth, there are reasons the data should call for cautious optimism. First, the 4,900 jobs were the single biggest month-over-month increase during the […]
FROM the BLS: Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in May. Twenty states had unemployment rate decreases from April, 16 states had increases, and 14 states and the District of Columbia had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate […]
AS reported by the AP, and published in the PPH, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Min) and Bob Corker (R-Ten) are proposing to raise gasoline taxes by 12 cents and subsequently indexing it to inflation, offsetting that increase with tax cuts elsewhere. The move would help keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent, and increase the gas tax […]
THE Portland Press Herald has a new op-ed this morning, looking at the weak labor market facing teenagers, citing a few causes of this as well as some solutions: The 2013 unemployment rate for Mainers age 16 to 19 was 21.1 percent, up sharply from the pre-recession rate of 14.1 percent. That’s compared to an […]
BINYAMIN Appelbaum at the New York Times has a new article arguing that measuring the recent economic recovery should focus on the number of employed rather than the unemployed. Specifically, rather than focusing on the unemployment rate (which can be misleading since it does not count discouraged workers who give up looking for a job […]
A report recently released by Oxfam America shows that 112,000 workers in Maine, 20.2% of workers, would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10–the Democrats’ proposed minimum wage hike which has stirred up debate about the impacts such as raise would have on employment. The U.S. average for total workers benefiting from a […]
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