A lot of attention is paid to the headline unemployment rate. But the number of “underemployed” workers also offers clues about the health of the labor market.
“The Black unemployment rate has always exceeded other groups,” said CBPP Chief Economist Gbenga Ajilore. “But what's different is that there's a bigger jump, and this is more sustained, and it's more long running.”
There’s work people do in this economy that goes untaxed and untracked. Think babysitting, dog walking, and basically any job that involves some kind of informal arrangement.
“Our labor market is not a fixed pie distributed among immigrant workers and U.S.-born workers,” said economist Chloe East. “Instead it's much more dynamic.”
Allison Robbert/The Washington Post via Getty Images
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Kantor is out with a new book that says new grads still have agency — if they focus on building “craft” and finding real-world need.
