Media
Colorado’s economy, on the surface, is humming along with unemployment rates at historic lows and some of the strongest job gains in the country.
But a closer look shows that median hourly wages are stuck; many of the new jobs being added are low-paying; and thousands of working-age adults remain disengaged from the labor force, according to the State of Working Colorado report from the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.
“We have another year of strong job growth in the state and unemployment continues to drop. But the indicator of how the economy is performing for the majority of workers — wages — still isn’t moving,” said Michelle Webster, manager of research and policy analysis with the group, which advocates on behalf of low-wage workers.
Media
As Coloradans shop for loved ones this holiday season, too many of them will be doing so on the cheap, or even resigning themselves to the giving of good wishes instead.
The reason for any stinginess in the season won’t be because these hard workers look to the Grinch for inspiration, but because wages are stuck in a Grinch-like grip that’s squeezing the value from their labor. Despite what appears to be a roaring economy and a bull market, the American system is failing to live up to a basic promise to its workers. The villains are all about us, from the marbled halls of elected office to the paneled walls of corporate boardrooms.
According to a new report by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, median hourly wages remain stuck, lots of the new jobs coming online pay low wages and thousands of adults remain disengaged from the workforce.
Colorado has one of the strongest performing economies in the country. Job growth has been robust for the past several years, consistently ranking Colorado among the top states for job creation. The unemployment rate has dropped steadily since 2010 to 3.3 percent in 2016. Real median household income continues to grow and is now slightly above the pre-recession level. And poverty rates have fallen since 2012, dropping to 11 percent in 2016.
Yet, this report points to several challenges to achieving an economic recovery in Colorado that is broadly shared and enduring:
- The median hourly wage has been falling or flat since the recovery began.
- Economic gains are increasingly concentrated among a small share of high earners in the state.
- While jobs have returned to the state, not all workers have returned to work.
- Colorado is increasingly becoming a multiracial state with a persistent race-based economic divide.
Publication
In the third quarter of 2017, Wisconsin posted modest job growth, adding just 7,300 jobs. Growth in September had to make up for job losses in the previous months. In August, the state lost 7,100 jobs – the worst month in jobs in more than a year. Private sector job growth in September was strong enough to make up for August’s losses and the state completed the third quarter of 2017 with 2,900 more private sector jobs. Wisconsin’s public sector has been unsteady but ended the quarter with 4,400 additional jobs after a strong September. Public sector employment is now slightly above the January level, despite losses over the summer. The unemployment rate continues to drop slowly across the nation and Wisconsin is not an exception. Unemployment in Wisconsin stands now at 3.5%, significantly below the level of the end of 2016, but up slightly from an early summer low of 3.1%.