This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAfter accounting for the present crisis, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history.Millennials will bear these economic scars the rest of their lives, in the form of lower earnings, lower wealth and delayed milestones, such as homeownership.The losses are particularly acute on the jobs front. A few brutal months of the coronavirus set the labor market back to the turn of the millennium.In April, the economy bottomed out with about...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAfter accounting for the present crisis, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history.Millennials will bear these economic scars the rest of their lives, in the form of lower earnings, lower wealth and delayed milestones, such as homeownership.The losses are particularly acute on the jobs front. A few brutal months of the coronavirus set the labor market back to the turn of the millennium.In April, the economy bottomed out with about...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the first few chaotic weeks of the Paycheck Protection Program, federal officials and banks throughout the country struggled to get bailout funds to small businesses as layoffs and furloughs climbed into the tens of millions.But there was one exception, a place where loans found their mark more quickly than any other: North Dakota.Small businesses there secured more PPP funds, relative to the state’s workforce, than their competitors in any other state — more than $5,000 per private-sector worker as of May 8, according...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn the first few chaotic weeks of the Paycheck Protection Program, federal officials and banks throughout the country struggled to get bailout funds to small businesses as layoffs and furloughs climbed into the tens of millions.But there was one exception, a place where loans found their mark more quickly than any other: North Dakota.Small businesses there secured more PPP funds, relative to the state’s workforce, than their competitors in any other state — more than $5,000 per private-sector worker as of May 8, according...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMore than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government Tuesday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit. on the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), about 600 mostly larger companies, including dozens of national chains, received the maximum amount allowed under the program of $10 million.Officials from the...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMore than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government Tuesday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit. on the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), about 600 mostly larger companies, including dozens of national chains, received the maximum amount allowed under the program of $10 million.Officials from the...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAre you better off than you were four years ago? That question has been at the heart of presidential campaigns since President Ronald Reagan first asked it in 1980. The general thinking has been that voters who are doing well would vote to reelect a sitting president. That’s not what happened in 2020.This time around, those who were better off voted for a change in the White House.The parts of America that have seen strong job, population and economic growth in the past four years voted for Joe Biden, economic researchers...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAre you better off than you were four years ago? That question has been at the heart of presidential campaigns since President Ronald Reagan first asked it in 1980. The general thinking has been that voters who are doing well would vote to reelect a sitting president. That’s not what happened in 2020.This time around, those who were better off voted for a change in the White House.The parts of America that have seen strong job, population and economic growth in the past four years voted for Joe Biden, economic researchers...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — Kathleen Trabert grew up in a town of diminished dreams as steel and coal jobs dried up. She spent more than a decade jumping among retail, fast food and home health aide jobs that paid so little that her family relied on food stamps and Medicaid to get by.In 2018, Trabert landed a job that paid more than she had ever earned — $31 an hour operating machines to dig up West Virginia’s hills to lay pipelines for natural gas. The gas boom improved her life and her town’s. She booked her first big vacation...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — Kathleen Trabert grew up in a town of diminished dreams as steel and coal jobs dried up. She spent more than a decade jumping among retail, fast food and home health aide jobs that paid so little that her family relied on food stamps and Medicaid to get by.In 2018, Trabert landed a job that paid more than she had ever earned — $31 an hour operating machines to dig up West Virginia’s hills to lay pipelines for natural gas. The gas boom improved her life and her town’s. She booked her first big vacation...WW…

Between February and April, 10 percent of Americans ages 25 to 54 lost their jobs. The employed percentage of the population dropped to its according to Labor Department data.By August, employment had recovered to the , in the wake of the Great Recession.Zooming out beyond prime working age to employment among shows the full scope of the pandemic recession. About half of the employment lost between February and April has been recovered. But the pain is not spread evenly. saw the steepest initial employment losses and still have the most ground to make up to reach pre-pandemic employment.The...…Between February and April, 10 percent of Americans ages 25 to 54 lost their jobs. The employed percentage of the population dropped to its according to Labor Department data.By August, employment had recovered to the , in the wake of the Great Recession.Zooming out beyond prime working age to employment among shows the full scope of the pandemic recession. About half of the employment lost between February and April has been recovered. But the pain is not spread evenly. saw the steepest initial employment losses and still have the most ground to make up to reach pre-pandemic employment.The...WW…

Listen9 minCommentGift ShareSenate Democrats this week are preparing to propose a new tax increase that would raise billions of dollars from a handful of the richest Americans, attempting to create perhaps the most narrowly focused tax policy in postwar history.But criticisms of the proposal have emerged — including from at least one top Democrat — and party leadership is still considering more traditional approaches to taxing the rich.Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Monday he will “in a matter of days” release a tax on billionaires that economists and tax experts...…Listen9 minCommentGift ShareSenate Democrats this week are preparing to propose a new tax increase that would raise billions of dollars from a handful of the richest Americans, attempting to create perhaps the most narrowly focused tax policy in postwar history.But criticisms of the proposal have emerged — including from at least one top Democrat — and party leadership is still considering more traditional approaches to taxing the rich.Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Monday he will “in a matter of days” release a tax on billionaires that economists and tax experts...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe U.S. economy shrank by 3.5 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged factories, businesses and households, pushing U.S. economic growth to a low not seen since the United States wound down wartime spending in 1946.Overall, the economy was surprisingly resilient in the second half of the year, given the falloff at the start of the public health crisis, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Yet, the 1 percent growth in the fourth quarter signaled a faltering recovery and a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe U.S. economy shrank by 3.5 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged factories, businesses and households, pushing U.S. economic growth to a low not seen since the United States wound down wartime spending in 1946.Overall, the economy was surprisingly resilient in the second half of the year, given the falloff at the start of the public health crisis, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Yet, the 1 percent growth in the fourth quarter signaled a faltering recovery and a...WW…