This week, the AFL-CIO held its quadrennial constitutional convention in Los Angeles. The convention had committees that included many nonunion partners to create an agenda directing the AFL-CIO toward a movement that can include the voices of all working people—those covered by collective bargaining agreements, those who are retired, those who are unemployed and those who work without the benefit of a union contract. Shared prosperity, the goal of the AFL-CIO, must be inclusive.

The way the media, corporations and the 1% talk about the economy is not only inaccurate, it is a means to maintain power for the wealthiest among us and keep working families powerless, delegates to the AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles declared today.The latest resolution passed at the convention describes the scope of the problem and announces a concrete plan to change the conversation.

You all know the facts, said economist Joseph Stiglitz, addressing the 2013 AFL-CIO Convention delegates. America's workers productivity has soared, yet wages have stagnated. 

"You've worked hard since 1979, your output per hour has increased 40%, but pay has barely increased," said Stiglitz. "The Great Recession has made things worse....95% of the gains from 2009 to 2012 went to the upper 1%. The rest, the 99%, never recovered."

The nation’s economy added 169,000 new jobs in August and the 7.3% jobless rate is down slightly from July’s 7.4%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The new jobs added were 65,000 more than the 104,000 new jobs in July (revised downward from the 162,000 originally reported), and this is the 41st straight month of tepid job growth—growth is at a rate too slow to fuel a healthy jobs recovery.

The following is an excerpt from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). 

According to the Department of Labor’s Aug. 2 jobs report, 12 million U.S. workers remain unemployed. In manufacturing and construction alone, 1.8 million people were out of work. Given that past trade agreements have had a deep and lasting impact on U.S. jobs, the officials negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) must focus on policies that create jobs, rather than destroy them.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has released important research about the economy in the past few weeks. Here's a look at some of the key pieces it uncovered about the U.S. economy.

Detroit, Labor Day and a Hard Day’s Night was originally published on The Hill's Congress Blog. 

The Beatles first visited Detroit just before Labor Day in 1964, and they gushed with admiration for the Motown sound. Detroit hummed with industry then, like the Beatle’s own Liverpool, England, with its bustling ports and pop music scene. Both industrial cities would soon flounder, losing 40 percent of their populations over the next 30 years.

As we approach Labor Day, the AFL-CIO has released a new report, The Elusive American Dream: Lower Wages, High Unemployment and an Uncertain Retirement for Latinos. The report compiles economic data from recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) studies that show Latinos face higher unemployment and underemployment rates, are paid lower wages and have less financial security as seniors.

The current tracking of Congress’ popularity shows that only 15% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Now, House Speaker John Boehner struck another tone deaf moment at a political fundraiser in Idaho when he warned that when Congress returns in September, he will lead Republicans in holding up the government’s business to pick a fight with President Obama over the nation’s debt ceiling. More than 11.5 million Americans are out actively looking for work, while the economy languishes with 2 million fewer jobs than at the end of 2007, more than five and a half years ago. Median family income remains thousands of dollars below the level it reached in 2007. And thousands of America's workers are staging strikes this week to raise their low-wage pay to something respectable. Americans want more jobs and a raise in pay now. How does a showdown on the integrity of the United States of America and paying its bills help address jobs and pay now? They don’t.

Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal included two stories about jobs and wages that provide a concise summary of what’s wrong with America and what’s right with Seattle. However, the business-minded newspaper failed to connect the dots between the articles scattered within its pages. Perhaps that’s because doing so would directly contradict its right-wing conservative editorial agenda.