Sylvia A. Allegretto

1 month ago | cepr.net | Data Bytes |Dean Baker |Sylvia A. Allegretto

The unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent in April, keeping it in the narrow 4.0-4.2 percent range it has been in since May of last year. The job growth in the establishment survey was also solid at 177,000, although the previous two months’ numbers were revised down by 52,000. As in prior months, health care was by far the leading job gainer, adding 50,600 jobs. State and local governments continued to be big job gainers, together adding 19,000 jobs.

1 month ago | cepr.net | Data Bytes |Dean Baker |Sylvia A. Allegretto

The 228,000 job growth reported for March was considerably higher than most analysts had expected. It was accompanied by downward revisions of 48,000 to the prior two months’ data, so the net job growth was not quite as large as it first appeared. But there is no doubt that the labor market was still looking strong last month. The headwinds that we were looking at before the March report are still there and almost certainly stronger now.

1 month ago | cepr.net | Data Bytes |Dean Baker |Sylvia A. Allegretto

This will be the first quarterly GDP report of the Trump administration. While he came into office 20 days into the quarter, his policies already have had a visible impact on the economy. In particular, his tariff plans, which have been widely anticipated, were already affecting durable good consumption in the last two months of 2024. There has been little clear price effect of the tariffs to date, but that will likely change in the next quarter’s data after more of them have taken effect.

Feb 27, 2025 | cepr.net | Data Bytes |Dean Baker |Sylvia A. Allegretto

(I saw that Jeff Bezos wants the Washington Post’s editorial page to run pieces touting the merits of free markets. Here’s my submission.)There are not many issues on which there is largely bipartisan agreement, so the story we tell about the origin of economic inequality stands out. Both sides agree that the increase in inequality of income and wealth is driven by an unfettered market.

Feb 24, 2025 | cepr.net | Data Bytes |Dean Baker |Sylvia A. Allegretto

NYT columnist Jeff Sommer had an entertaining piece on how many of the business leaders who eagerly embraced DEI a few years back are now being very quick to abandon it. This is not terribly surprising to those of us who never took the commitment to DEI very seriously, but there is an important aspect to his discussion that he leaves out. Sommer spends much of the piece on the views Milton Friedman expressed in an article more than half a century ago.