by, Paul Krugman The Huffington Post, May 8, 2012 In March 2009 Ben Bernanke, normally neither the most cheerful nor the most poetic of men, waxed optimistic about the economic prospect. After the fall of Lehman Brothers six months earlier, America had entered a terrifying economic nosedive. But appearing on the TV show 60 Minutes, [...]

Washington, D.C., May 04, 2012 – The latest employment numbers from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reflects the despair felt by America’s unemployed, with an increased number of working age Americans giving up on finding any kind of job. Despite an official employment rate that dropped one-tenth of a percent and the addition [...]

by Leo Hindery Chairman, Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation Our Summary of U.S. Real Unemployment includes everything that BLS leaves out.  It also identifies the Real Jobs Gap which needs to be closed in order to be at 5% full employment in real terms, job openings, and average weeks unemployed.  As of [...]

Want to thank someone on Capitol Hill? How about Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who introduced S.1517, the 21st Century Works Progress Administration (WPA) Act? Or Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Reed (D-RI),  Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mark Begich (D-AK) who cosponsored S. 1517? Lautenberg’s WPA 2.0 authorizes $250 billion to employ individuals [...]

By Roger Bybee Published Tuesday, May 1, 2012 In These Times “[N]o one is hiring for entry level jobs, temp services are taking advantage and not even finding steady positions for people, the wages are so low and college graduates are not finding work in their chosen fields…yet the politicians want to play the old [...]

Washington, D.C., April 26, 2012 – The Union of Unemployed (UCubed) today launched a campaign to enable its unemployed and underemployed leaders to say “thank you” to politicians who have stood by them throughout this Great Recession. The UCubed Thank You page allows the jobless to post a personalized message to a senator, governor, Member [...]

Dear UCubed Leader: The political impulse this year is clear: vote against ALL incumbents. Their policies failed to get us back to work. Or worse yet, their policies made our lives even more miserable. Case closed. Or is it?

Dear UCubed Leaders: After 52 months of dismaying unemployment reports, the media, most economists and political leaders of both parties want to move on. I really can’t blame them. Nothing they have said or done since December 2007 has worked. So now the most pressing issue for 27.3 million Americans – getting back to work [...]

Many states are shortchanging the unemployed by distributing unemployment benefits on debit cards loaded with extraneous fees. Prepaid bank cards provide the jobless easy access to their benefits and can help those without a bank account avoid check cashing fees and the risk of carrying cash. However, Big Banks are stinging too many unemployed Americans [...]

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has introduced new sweeping legislation to restore the U.S. economy, revitalize the middle class, put unemployed and underemployed Americans back to work and help our nation compete globally. The Rebuild America Act includes a litany of pro-worker measures including a provision to save and create jobs, modernize our nation’s infrastructure, create [...]