The nation’s jobless rate dropped to 7.7% in November—down from October’s 7.9% and the lowest level since December 2008—as the economy added 146,000 new jobs last month, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The 146,000 jobs created reflect 33 straight months of positive job growth.

Unlike other major cities where local construction workers share the benefits of a building boom and make up a large portion of the construction workforce, residents of the District of Columbia are grossly underrepresented on area construction sites where suburban residents hold a disproportionate share of the jobs, according to a new report.

"Inequality and Budget Deficits: Why Is Only the Latter an Emergency?" is a cross-post from Jared Bernstein's On the Economy blog. 

I just read two sweeping reports on the state of income inequality in the U.S. (the second link focuses on state-level inequality) and other advanced economies.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve been so ensconced in fiscal cliff discussions, but I was struck by how much more alarmed policymakers are by the budget deficit than by the inequality situation. There are reasons for that tilt—some good, some bad—but based on magnitudes of the problem, it’s far from clear that our current sole policy focus is warranted.

The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) launched a new website Thursday, Wage Class War, saying that the 2012 election was, in large part, about class warfare and that the Democrats who sided with the middle class and poor were the victors.

A new report by Josh Bivens and Andrew Fieldhouse of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and The Century Foundation (TCF) shows how ending Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans could lead to 2 million more jobs in 2013 and 1.4 million more jobs in 2014.

The EPI report explains what economists already know about tax cuts for the wealthy—they are extremely ineffective in creating jobs.

EPI shows how we could end these wasteful tax cuts for the wealthy, use half of the savings to reduce the deficit and use the other half to create jobs in much more effective ways.

A group of Democratic senators is circulating a letter opposing benefit cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and saying that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should expire at the end of the year. The letter also calls for increasing revenue, cuts to defense and the closing of tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. The letter was drafted by Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). The Democratic senators are hoping to get 30 senators to sign the letter.

A study released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that 400,000 jobs could be lost if Congress fails to extend the federally funded extended Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits program when it expires at the end of 2012.  Unemployment benefits not only provide a lifeline to unemployed workers struggling to get by, but also provide critical support for the economy.  According to EPI, “economists widely recognize that extending unemployment benefits is one of the most effective tools for generating jobs in a downturn” because cash-strapped jobless workers immediately spend their UI benefits, and this spending generates activity throughout the economy.  EPI finds that if Congress refuses to extend UI, the unemployment rate will be 0.3% higher next year than it will be if Congress continues the program.

A group of 350 prominent economists, including economic experts from the AFL-CIO, issued a joint statement warning that the type of austerity measures favored by Republicans and suggested by the bipartisan commission, led by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, would further harm the economy and weaken the social safety net that millions of working families rely upon. They argue that the seemingly obsessive focus on the deficit obscures what the country really needs to focus on—creating jobs.

The conventional wisdom in Washington, D.C., and in much of the media, is that because of the deficit and debt, we need to make cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. A bipartisan commission led by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles has promoted a plan that would cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and lower corporate taxes for the wealthy. Bowles and Simpson have been promoting their plan heavily and took to endorsing candidates who they believed would support their plan. 

Voters on Tuesday rejected all of the candidates that both Bowles and Simpson endorsed...

The economy added 171,000 new jobs in October—the 32nd straight month of positive job growth—according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The nation’s unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9%, up slightly from September’s 7.8%. The labor force grew by more than half a million workers in October, which is a positive sign, as more workers are seeking and finding jobs. The number of discouraged and involuntary part-time workers has fallen since last year.  

The newly created jobs exceeded most economists’ predictions of 100,000 to 125,000 new jobs for the month. Also, September payrolls were revised to a gain of 148,000 from an initially reported 114,000, and August to 192,000 from 142,000.