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2020 Archived articles from The Economics Daily (in chronological order)
December 2020
- Real average weekly earnings up 4.7 percent from November 2019 to November 2020 (12/17/2020)
- Consumer prices increase 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending November 2020 (12/16/2020)
- Hires 5.8 million and total separations 5.1 million in October 2020 (12/15/2020)
- 60 percent of businesses with average pay less than $20k told some staff not to work due to COVID-19 (12/14/2020)
- Labor productivity up 4.6 percent, output up 43.4 percent in third quarter 2020 (12/11/2020)
- Unemployment rates up in 384 of 389 metropolitan areas from October 2019 to October 2020 (12/10/2020)
- 36.9 percent of unemployed jobless 27 weeks or more as pandemic continues, November 2020 (12/09/2020)
- Payroll employment up by 245,000 in November; down 9.8 million since February 2020 (12/08/2020)
- Most metropolitan areas had employment losses for the year ended in October 2020 (12/07/2020)
- 93,800 nonfatal injuries and illnesses in full-service restaurants in 2019 (12/04/2020)
- Internet publishing employment up 48 percent, first quarter 2016 to second quarter 2020 (12/03/2020)
- Job requirements for animal caretakers on National Mutt Day (12/02/2020)
- Manufacturing multifactor productivity declined 1.6 percent in 2019 (12/01/2020)
November 2020
- Private industry employer health benefits costs up 1.8 percent for year ending September 2020 (11/30/2020)
- Hawaii and Nevada have the highest unemployment rates in October 2020 (11/27/2020)
- Leisure and hospitality employment in Hawaii down 49.6 percent for year ended October 2020 (11/25/2020)
- Gobble Gobble, consumer prices for turkeys and other Thanksgiving favorites in November (11/24/2020)
- Employment down in all of the 357 largest U.S. counties from June 2019 to June 2020 (11/23/2020)
- Import petroleum and coal prices down 27.8 percent for the year ended in October 2020 (11/20/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand rose 0.5 percent for the year ended October 2020 (11/19/2020)
- 888,220 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses resulted in days away from work in 2019 (11/18/2020)
- Real average hourly earnings up 3.2 percent for the year ended October 2020 (11/17/2020)
- Consumer prices increase 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending October 2020 (11/16/2020)
- Hires increase by 137,000 in accommodation and food services in September 2020 (11/13/2020)
- Unemployment rate falls to 6.9 percent in October 2020 (11/12/2020)
- Payroll employment rose by 638,000 in October 2020 (11/10/2020)
- Labor productivity up 4.9 percent, output up 43.5 percent in third quarter 2020 (11/09/2020)
- 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses occurred in private industry in 2019 (11/06/2020)
- Compensation costs in private industry up 2.4 percent from September 2019 to September 2020 (11/05/2020)
- Job losses exceeded job gains in 46 states and D.C for the quarter ended in March 2020 (11/04/2020)
- Employment in political organizations (11/03/2020)
- Unemployment rate in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii, up 20.9 percentage points (11/02/2020)
October 2020
- 251 out of 389 metropolitan areas had decreases in employment for the year ended September 2020 (10/30/2020)
- Employers paid 67 percent of premiums for family medical care coverage in 2020 (10/29/2020)
- The Midwest states are tooled for production (10/28/2020)
- Hawaii and Nevada had largest drops in employment–population ratio from February to September (10/27/2020)
- All 50 states and the District had jobless rate increases from a year earlier in September 2020 (10/26/2020)
- Employment in Hawaii down 18.4 percent from September 2019 to September 2020 (10/23/2020)
- Women had median weekly earnings of $902 in third quarter 2020, compared with $1,104 for men (10/22/2020)
- U.S. import prices down 1.1 percent from September 2019 to September 2020 (10/21/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand up 0.4 percent for the year ended in September 2020 (10/20/2020)
- Real average hourly earnings increased 3.3 percent from September 2019 to September 2020 (10/19/2020)
- Consumer prices up 1.4 percent over the year ending September 2020 (10/16/2020)
- Impact on local labor markets of California fires in 2017 and 2018 (10/15/2020)
- Layoffs and discharges in small, medium, and large establishments (10/14/2020)
- Hispanics made up 44.7 percent of the labor force in New Mexico in 2019 (10/13/2020)
- Number of job separations decreased to 4.6 million in August 2020 (10/09/2020)
- Unemployment rates up in 387 of 389 metropolitan areas from August 2019 to August 2020 (10/08/2020)
- Labor force participation rate down, employment–population ratio little changed in September (10/07/2020)
- Employment up 661,000 in September 2020; leisure and hospitality adds 318,000 jobs (10/06/2020)
- Employment decreases in 254 metropolitan areas from August 2019 to August 2020 (10/05/2020)
- Average employee medical premium $6,797 for family coverage in 2020 (10/02/2020)
- Electrical power-line installer and repairer wages by bargaining status in 2019 (10/01/2020)
September 2020
- Consumer spending increased 3.0 percent from 2018 to 2019 (09/30/2020)
- Median tenure with current employer was 4.1 years in January 2020 (09/29/2020)
- Seventy percent of workers displaced from 2017 to 2019 were reemployed in January 2020 (09/28/2020)
- A look at workplace safety in agriculture (09/25/2020)
- Unemployment rates down in 41 states, July 2020 to August 2020 (09/24/2020)
- Nonfarm payroll employment up in 40 states in August 2020 (09/23/2020)
- Private industry compensation costs $35.96 per hour worked, health insurance cost $2.73, June 2020 (09/22/2020)
- Import air freight prices up 55.8 percent, passenger fares down 8.9 percent, over year ended August (09/21/2020)
- Real weekly earnings up 3.9 percent for year ended August 2020 (09/18/2020)
- Consumer prices up 1.3 percent in 12 months ended August 2020 (09/17/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand down 0.2 percent for the year ended August 2020 (09/16/2020)
- One-quarter of the employed teleworked in August 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic (09/15/2020)
- Number of unemployed people per job opening drops to 2.5 in July 2020 (09/14/2020)
- Output down 11.2 percent, hours worked down 13.6 percent from 2019 (09/11/2020)
- Full-time employment up 2.8 million, part-time employment up 991,000, in August 2020 (09/10/2020)
- Employment up 1.4 million in August 2020 but still down 11.5 million since February (09/09/2020)
- Unemployment rate up 19.0 points in Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ, from July 2019 to July 2020 (09/08/2020)
- 5 out of 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019 to 2029 are in healthcare and social assistance (09/04/2020)
- 206 firefighters died on the job from 2013 to 2018 (09/03/2020)
- Most states and metro areas gained jobs in May, June, and July after large losses in March and April (09/02/2020)
- Multifactor productivity up 11.8 percent in turbine and power transmission equipment in 2018 (09/01/2020)
August 2020
- Fatal work injuries from unintentional overdose increased on average 24 percent per year, 2011–18 (08/31/2020)
- 20 percent of Utah's labor force under the age of 25 in 2019 (08/28/2020)
- Unemployment rate 16.1 percent in Massachusetts, 4.5 percent in Utah, in July 2020 (08/27/2020)
- Nonfarm employment increases in 40 states from June to July 2020 (08/26/2020)
- Employment up by 3.7 percent in St. Johns County, Florida, from March 2019 to March 2020 (08/25/2020)
- 46.7 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2020, down 9.5 percentage points from July 2019 (08/24/2020)
- Manufacturing labor productivity decreased 15.5 percent in the second quarter of 2020 (08/21/2020)
- Real average hourly earnings up 3.7 percent, July 2019–July 2020 (08/20/2020)
- Import and export meat prices fluctuate in response to COVID-19 pandemic (08/19/2020)
- U.S. import prices down 3.3 percent, export prices down 4.4 percent, for the year ending July 2020 (08/18/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand down 0.4 percent for the year ended July 2020 (08/17/2020)
- Consumer prices increase 1.0 percent in the 12 months ending July 2020 (08/14/2020)
- Hires fall to 6.7 million in June 2020, still the second highest in history (08/13/2020)
- People at work part time for economic reasons down in July 2020, 4.1 million higher than in February (08/12/2020)
- Leisure and hospitality gains 592,000 jobs in July 2020, about one-third of total nonfarm job gains (08/11/2020)
- Labor force participation rate 20.8 percent for people with a disability in 2019 (08/10/2020)
- Looking to buy a book on National Book Lovers Day? (08/07/2020)
- Labor productivity growth in retail trade in 2019 at its highest since 1999 (08/06/2020)
- Private industry compensation costs up 2.7 percent from June 2019 to June 2020 (08/05/2020)
- Net employment gain of 792,000 private-sector jobs during the fourth quarter of 2019 (08/04/2020)
- Unemployment rates up in 388 of 389 metro areas in June 2020 (08/03/2020)
July 2020
- 307 metro areas had over-the-year employment decreases in June 2020 (07/31/2020)
- Occupations with a high concentration in each state in May 2019 (07/30/2020)
- Barriers to employment for people with a disability (07/29/2020)
- 79 percent of private industry workers had access to paid vacation leave in March 2019 (07/28/2020)
- Women and aging affect trends in labor force growth (07/27/2020)
- 10.9 percent of families with one member in the labor force lived below the poverty level in 2018 (07/24/2020)
- Median weekly earnings by education, second quarter 2020 (07/23/2020)
- Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York had highest unemployment rates in June 2020 (07/22/2020)
- Employment up in all 50 states and D.C. over the month, down over the year, in June 2020 (07/21/2020)
- Import fuel prices up 21.9 percent in June 2020; largest monthly increase on record (07/20/2020)
- Real weekly earnings up 4.6 percent for year ending June 2020, reflecting loss of lower-paying jobs (07/17/2020)
- Consumer prices increased 0.6 percent for the year ended June 2020 (07/16/2020)
- Employment–population ratio less than 50.0 percent for 10 states in May 2020 (07/15/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand down 0.8 percent for the year ended June 2020 (07/14/2020)
- 146 fatal work injuries involving tractors occurred in 2018 (07/13/2020)
- Hires increase 2.4 million in May; job openings rise while layoffs and discharges fall (07/10/2020)
- Unemployment rates were higher in May than a year earlier in all 389 metropolitan areas (07/09/2020)
- Employment–population ratio 54.6 percent in June 2020, down from 61.1 percent in February 2020 (07/08/2020)
- Nonfarm employment up 4.8 million in June 2020 (07/07/2020)
- Employment down from May 2019 to May 2020 in all large metro areas (07/06/2020)
- Men spent 5.5 hours per day in leisure activities, women 4.9 hours, in 2019 (07/02/2020)
- Most manufacturing industries experienced labor productivity declines in 2019 (07/01/2020)
June 2020
- 60 percent of college graduates born from 1980 to 1984 were married at age 33 (06/30/2020)
- Motor vehicle manufacturing nonfatal injury and illness rate twice as high as private industry (06/29/2020)
- High concentrations of slaughterers and meat packers in Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska in 2019 (06/26/2020)
- Unemployment rates down over the month in 38 states in May 2020 (06/25/2020)
- Leisure and hospitality employment in New York down 62.1 percent for the year ended May 2020 (06/24/2020)
- Compensation costs in private industry averaged $35.34 per hour worked in March 2020 (06/23/2020)
- U.S. import prices down 6.0 percent from May 2019 to May 2020 (06/22/2020)
- Real weekly earnings up 7.4 percent for year ending May 2020, reflecting loss of lower-paying jobs (06/19/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand down 0.8 percent for the year ended May 2020 (06/18/2020)
- Job openings rate 4.7 percent in Washington, DC, area in fourth quarter 2019 (06/17/2020)
- Consumer prices for food at home increased 4.8 percent for year ended May 2020 (06/16/2020)
- Total nonfarm job separations decreased to 9.9 million in April 2020 (06/15/2020)
- Unemployment rates higher in all 389 metropolitan areas from April 2019 to April 2020 (06/12/2020)
- 377 metropolitan areas had over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment in April 2020 (06/11/2020)
- 9.0 million people not in labor force but want a job in May 2020 (06/10/2020)
- Employment up 2.5 million in May 2020 but still down 19.6 million since February (06/09/2020)
- Labor productivity up 0.7 percent from first quarter 2019 to first quarter 2020 (06/08/2020)
- Three-fourths of workers had to interact with the public in 2019; 4.3 percent worked around crowds (06/05/2020)
- Machinery involved in 58 percent of work-related amputations in 2018 (06/04/2020)
- People born in early 1980s held an average of 8.2 jobs from ages 18 through 32 (06/03/2020)
- Unit labor costs decreased in 5 of 29 selected service-providing industries in 2019 (06/02/2020)
- Cashiers in food and beverage stores earned an average of $12 per hour in May 2019 (06/01/2020)
May 2020
- Foreign-born workers made up 17.4 percent of labor force in 2019 (05/29/2020)
- 43 states at historically high unemployment rates in April 2020 (05/28/2020)
- Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in April 2020 (05/27/2020)
- Employment in 2019 up 5.8 percent in Cleveland County, Oklahoma (05/26/2020)
- 66.2 percent of 2019 high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2019 (05/22/2020)
- U.S. terms of trade with Canada rise 22.0 percent for year ending April 2020 (05/21/2020)
- Producer price final demand index down 1.2 percent for the year ended April 2020 (05/20/2020)
- Job separations up 8.9 million to high of 14.5 million in March 2020 (05/19/2020)
- Real hourly earnings up 7.5 percent for year ending April 2020, reflecting loss of lower-paying jobs (05/18/2020)
- Food at home prices up, gasoline and airfare prices down, over the year ended April 2020 (05/15/2020)
- People with a disability more likely to request changes in workplace than those with no disability (05/14/2020)
- Unemployment rate rises to record high 14.7 percent in April 2020 (05/13/2020)
- Payroll employment down 20.5 million in April 2020 (05/12/2020)
- Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2020 (05/11/2020)
- A look at wages for jobs moms do at home (05/08/2020)
- Household spending for July 2018 through June 2019 up 2.7 percent, compared with prior 12 months (05/07/2020)
- Private industry compensation costs up 2.8 percent from March 2019 to March 2020 (05/06/2020)
- Gross job gains and losses were both 7.3 million from July to September 2019 (05/05/2020)
- Unemployment rates up 1.0 percentage point or more over the year in 118 metro areas in March 2020 (05/04/2020)
- Employment up in 21 metro areas, unchanged in 367, from March 2019 to March 2020 (05/01/2020)
April 2020
- 2.7 million grocery store workers in September 2019 (04/30/2020)
- Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations had employment of 5.7 million in May 2019 (04/29/2020)
- A look at work injuries, illnesses, and fatalities on Workers' Memorial Day (04/28/2020)
- Registered nurses made up 30 percent of hospital employment in May 2019 (04/27/2020)
- 4.9 percent of families had an unemployed person in 2019, a historical low (04/24/2020)
- Unemployment rates rose in 29 states and the District of Columbia in March 2020 (04/23/2020)
- Payroll employment down in 31 states in March 2020 (04/22/2020)
- Women had median weekly earnings of $857, or 80.4 percent of men's earnings, first quarter 2020 (04/21/2020)
- Import prices down 4.1 percent, export prices down 3.6 percent over the year ended March 2020 (04/20/2020)
- Real average weekly earnings increased 0.7 percent from March 2019 to March 2020 (04/17/2020)
- Consumer prices rose 1.5 percent from March 2019 to March 2020; energy prices down 5.7 percent (04/16/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand rose 0.7 percent for the year ended March 2020 (04/15/2020)
- Ames, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment rate in February 2020 (04/14/2020)
- Payroll employment up over the year in 34 metropolitan areas in February 2020 (04/13/2020)
- Employment trends in electronic shopping (04/10/2020)
- Hires and separations little changed in February 2020 (04/09/2020)
- Number of people employed part time for economic reasons up 1.4 million in March 2020 (04/08/2020)
- Nonfarm payroll employment down 701,000 in March 2020 (04/07/2020)
- Number of hospitals and hospital employment in each state in 2019 (04/06/2020)
- Statewide employment in healthcare occupations in May 2019 (04/03/2020)
- Private industry workers with sick leave benefits received more days at larger establishments (04/02/2020)
- North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in February 2020 (04/01/2020)
March 2020
- 21 states added jobs from February 2019 to February 2020 (03/31/2020)
- Multifactor productivity up 0.9 percent in 2019 (03/30/2020)
- 181 of 389 metropolitan areas had jobless rates above the U.S. rate of 4.0 percent in January 2020 (03/27/2020)
- 31 metro areas had increases in nonfarm employment from January 2019 to January 2020 (03/26/2020)
- Unemployment rate 5.5 percent in 2019 for Gulf War-era II veterans with a disability (03/25/2020)
- Private employer costs for pay and benefits were highest in the Pacific region in December 2019 (03/24/2020)
- Hiring increased for the tenth consecutive year in 2019 (03/23/2020)
- Eleven states had unemployment rate decreases from January 2019 to January 2020 (03/20/2020)
- Utah, Arizona, and Idaho had largest percentage job increases in year ending January 2020 (03/19/2020)
- Export prices down 1.3 percent during year ended February 2020 (03/18/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand rose 1.3 percent for the 12 months ended in February 2020 (03/17/2020)
- Real average weekly earnings up 0.7 percent from February 2019 to February 2020 (03/16/2020)
- Consumer prices increase 2.3 percent for year ending February 2020 (03/13/2020)
- Nonfarm business sector labor productivity grew 1.9 percent in 2019 (03/12/2020)
- 19.2 percent of the unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more in February 2020 (03/11/2020)
- Nonfarm payroll employment up 273,000 in February 2020 (03/10/2020)
- Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska had highest employment–population ratios in 2019 (03/09/2020)
- Counties with highest concentration of jobs in scientific research and development, September 2019 (03/06/2020)
- 94 percent of managers, 56 percent of construction and extraction workers had paid sick leave, 2019 (03/05/2020)
- Job openings rate 6.0 percent in Vermont, 3.7 percent in District of Columbia, in September 2019 (03/04/2020)
- Lower-wage workers less likely than other workers to have medical care benefits in 2019 (03/03/2020)
- Unemployment rate for people with a disability declines to 7.3 percent in 2019 (03/02/2020)
February 2020
- Nonunion workers had weekly earnings 81 percent of union members in 2019 (02/28/2020)
- Employment up more than 5.0 percent over the year in New Hanover County, NC, and Adams County, CO (02/27/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand up 2.1 percent for year ended January 2020 (02/26/2020)
- Import air passenger fares fall 9.6 percent over the year ending January 2020 (02/25/2020)
- Fatalities to workers age 55 and older trending up (02/24/2020)
- Real average hourly earnings increased 0.6 percent from January 2019 to January 2020 (02/21/2020)
- Consumer prices increase 2.5 percent in the 12 months ending January 2020 (02/20/2020)
- Job openings decrease 14.9 percent for the year ended December 2019 (02/19/2020)
- Cleveland unemployment rate down 1.5 percentage points over the year ended December 2019 (02/18/2020)
- 25 major work stoppages in 2019 involving 425,500 workers (02/14/2020)
- 45 metro areas had increases in nonfarm employment from December 2018 to December 2019 (02/13/2020)
- Unemployment rate 2.0 percent for college grads, 3.8 percent for high school grads in January 2020 (02/12/2020)
- Average hourly earnings for private payrolls increased 3.1 percent for year ended January 2020 (02/11/2020)
- Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 (02/10/2020)
- Workplace suicides reach historic high in 2018 (02/07/2020)
- Jobs in environment and conservation nearly triple from January 2001 to June 2019 (02/06/2020)
- Work injuries and illnesses resulting in visits to medical treatment facilities (02/05/2020)
- Private industry compensation costs up 2.7 percent from December 2018 to December 2019 (02/04/2020)
- Union membership rate 8.6 percent in manufacturing, 23.4 percent in utilities, in 2019 (02/03/2020)
January 2020
- Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 26 states and D.C. for quarter ended June 2019 (01/31/2020)
- Manufacturing multifactor productivity declined 1.0 percent in 2018 (01/30/2020)
- Unemployment rates in 15 states were lower than the 3.5-percent U.S. rate in December 2019 (01/29/2020)
- 26 states added jobs from December 2018 to December 2019 (01/28/2020)
- Hawaii and New York had highest union membership rates, the Carolinas the lowest, in 2019 (01/27/2020)
- Median weekly earnings of full-time workers increased 4.0 percent in 2019 (01/24/2020)
- Job openings fell to 6.8 million in November 2019 (01/23/2020)
- U.S. import prices up 0.5 percent in 2019 (01/22/2020)
- Producer prices for final demand up 1.3 percent in 2019 (01/21/2020)
- Real average hourly earnings up 0.6 percent from December 2018 to December 2019 (01/17/2020)
- Consumer Price Index: 2019 in review (01/16/2020)
- Unemployment rate 5.0 percent in construction, 1.9 percent in information industry, in December 2019 (01/15/2020)
- Nonfarm employment rose 145,000 in December 2019 and 2.1 million for all of 2019 (01/14/2020)
- Trends in casino employment from 2001 to 2018 (01/13/2020)
- Work-related deaths for taxi drivers and chauffeurs at a record low in 2018 (01/10/2020)
- Physical requirements in food preparation and serving jobs (01/09/2020)
- Kokomo, Indiana, had largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in November 2019 (01/08/2020)
- All large metro areas post 10-year employment increases (01/07/2020)
- Inflation-adjusted earnings in motor vehicles and parts industry down 17 percent from 1990 to 2018 (01/06/2020)
- Counties with highest concentration of jobs in fitness and recreational sports centers, June 2019 (01/03/2020)
- Compensation costs in private industry averaged $34.77 per hour worked in September 2019 (01/02/2020)