Working & The Economy
Why there’s such an impasse in Congress: Some questions and answers
Progressives have called for Senate action on the social programs bill before taking a vote in the House on traditional infrastructure.
Pa. hit liquor sales record in 2020-21 fiscal year | The Numbers Racket
The record sales and revenue reported by the PLCB are , in almost all comparisons, a rebound from the 2019-20 fiscal year, which saw state-run liquor sales slump statewide as the stores closed for a portion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pa. DMVA administers service-connected blindness pension | Five for the Weekend
October is Blindness Awareness Month in Pennsylvania, a condition affecting many Pennsylvanians, including veterans.
Philly Council resolution supports workers alleging hair discrimination
The measure by Councilmember Cherelle Parker backs local federal security officers
Advocates, elected officials call on UPMC to raise wages and improve community outreach
'At UPMC, Black workers, particularly Black women workers, are concentrated in the hospital jobs that pay their lowest wages,' one activist said
When baseball is like economics: A wealth tax is a home run | Marty Marks
People who benefit more from the system reasonably can be expected to pay more for the advantages the system begets.
More Americans couldn’t get enough to eat in 2020. The middle class was hit hardest | Opinion
Food insufficiency rates rose across the board, researchers who analyzed government data found. But food banks did help.
Alle.Co. Port Authority nabs $216M COVID grant; will use money to recover from pandemic losses
'Public transit is vitally important to our region’s recovery from this global pandemic,' a spokesperson said.
Utilities need to think differently to avoid long power outages after disasters | Opinion
Building even more power poles and transmission lines won’t avert outages when major disasters strike.
Report finds decline in household income, rise in poverty rate | Monday Morning Coffee
According to the 2021 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, the median household income decreased 2.9 percent from 2019 to 2020.
Pa. unemployment rate dropped slightly in August
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has decreased for the sixth consecutive month, to 6.4 percent in August, according to state data released Friday. That’s 1.2 percent higher than the national rate of 5.2 percent. Department of Labor & Industry data confirmed that the commonwealth’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percentage points lower than its August 2020 level. The […]
Pa. logs 6.2% decrease in noneducation workers in state, local government | Friday Morning Coffee
Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Associate Editor Cassie Miller here, filling in for John. Let’s dive right in, shall we? While private sector jobs are rebounding from the COVID-19 closures, noneducation employment growth in state and local governments across the country have all but dried up, Pew Charitable Trusts data suggests. Noneducation state and local jobs, including jobs […]