jobs and employment	264
economics	204
state and local government	189
education	188
indiana	174
economic development	172
taxes	147
budget and spending	146
law and public policy	145
workforce and human capital	140

Commentaries tagged with jobs and employment

June 15, 2025	Economic Freedom Is Essential, but It Isn’t Just TaxesBusinesses and households prioritize standard of living among other factors.
June 8, 2025	The Labor Demand Shocks of Artificial IntelligenceThe unseen part of technology is how humans adapt it to complement their innate skills.
May 25, 2025	Previewing the Long-Term Effects of TariffsThe dominant effect of the Trump tariffs will be to raise production costs on almost every American manufacturing firm.
May 4, 2025	Two Key Economic Lessons in One BillHoosiers face trade-offs and opportunity costs in the wake of SEA1.
April 27, 2025	Time to Fix Economic Development PolicyAllocating tax dollars to land development won’t cause economic growth.
April 20, 2025	The Unanticipated Effects of SB1Businesses, governments and households may all feel the effects.
March 30, 2025	The Birth and Death of Rustbelt CitiesEducational attainment is the fundamental factor leading to city growth or decline.
March 9, 2025	A 1960s Rural Development PlanFarming and manufacturing jobs aren’t coming back, even as we hit new production records.
March 2, 2025	What Is Government Inefficiency?Different levels of government concern themselves with different problems.
February 9, 2025	The Medicaid DilemmaFor every one new job created in Indiana since 2010, we’ve had more than two new people enroll in Medicaid.
January 19, 2025	My 2025 ForecastThe Hoosier economy is growing, but at the same time falling further behind the rest of the nation.
September 15, 2024	IEDC’s Unhappy 20th AnniversaryIndiana must become a place where education and skills of people form the central mission of state and local economic development policies.
September 1, 2024	Urban Growth Dominates the US Economy – and Puts Rural Places at RiskEducation becomes more important as more people become educated.
July 21, 2024	Why Don’t We Learn from Economic Development Failures?Educational attainment alone is now a more powerful predictor of a region’s economic success than everything else combined.
June 9, 2024	Advice for Young People Heading Directly into the Labor MarketSkipping college does not mean you cannot have a satisfying career, but it will take more planning and work to get there.
May 19, 2024	The End of Noncompete ClausesBusinesses that have shielded themselves from competition through noncompete clauses will need to do better.
April 28, 2024	We Botched Our Last Curriculum Reform, We Cannot Do So This TimeA very good idea can become very bad public policy when executed poorly.
April 7, 2024	What Caused the Midwest to Thrive? EducationIndiana was universally literate before England was.
March 10, 2024	Are We in the Early Stages of a Long Economic Boom?Economists aren’t yet sure why labor productivity is growing, but I can offer two educated guesses.
February 11, 2024	Some More Truth About Manufacturing and TradeManufacturing employment peaked decades earlier than manufacturing production.
January 28, 2024	Do Record Levels of Capital Investment Benefit Citizens?Taxpayers may be appropriately skeptical about business relocation announcements.
January 21, 2024	Small School Corporations Face Some Tough ChoicesStudent opportunities and outcomes increase and operational costs decrease when corporations approach optimal enrollment levels.
December 31, 2023	Education After High School Is the Path to Middle-Class LifeJobs of the future require at least some college training.
December 10, 2023	Manufacturing Matters, but Not for Creating JobsManufacturing is important because it is the source of a significant share of regional productivity growth.
December 3, 2023	The ‘Great Discordance’ of Economic Fact and FeelingThat Americans appear to prefer higher unemployment over historically mild inflation is not something any of us should be proud of.
November 19, 2023	Are We in a Period of New Union Activism?The bigger effect of unions appears to be how they influence labor markets outside the firms in which they’ve organized.
October 22, 2023	Economic Perceptions Driven by Educational and Geographic Differences in ProsperityThe geography of economic opportunity is shrinking.
September 24, 2023	Don’t Expect the UAW to GrowThere is no evidence of a resurgence in the UAW or other industrial unions today.
September 3, 2023	Work From Home Is Here to StayAt least 1 million Hoosiers work from home at least one day per week.
August 20, 2023	Face the Fact: Factory Jobs Aren’t Coming BackFor every factory job Indiana lost since 1973, other industries created seven more jobs.
July 16, 2023	Job Creation Numbers Are DeceptiveOnly a small percentage of new jobs are due to state and local economic development efforts.
June 18, 2023	New Labor Market Data Is Eye Opening But Under UsedThere’s been more data created on labor and education in the past 25 years than in the preceding 25 centuries.
June 11, 2023	“Of Boys and Men” by Richard Reeves Is a Must ReadThe gender gap in education is larger than any racial or ethnic gap.
June 4, 2023	Increasing Importance of Summer JobsThese jobs offer an opportunity to learn as well as earn money.
April 30, 2023	A Good Post-COVID Run for the Hoosier EconomyIndiana entered COVID with an already weakening economy.
April 16, 2023	What New AI Might Do to Labor MarketsThe human advantage lies in creative intelligence and social organization.
April 2, 2023	The Five Skills Employers Tell Me They NeedI’ve asked countless numbers of leaders in business, government, military, and organizations.
March 19, 2023	Remote Work Through the Eyes of Three 20-SomethingsRemote work is here to stay.
March 12, 2023	Remote Work and Labor MarketsThere are more remote workers today than there are immigrants in the U.S.
January 22, 2023	Some Labor Market Facts You Won’t Read ElsewhereIndiana is simply not producing a 21st century workforce.
January 1, 2023	The CHIPS Act Was Wise LegislationSemiconductors are a key part of national defense, among other industries.
December 25, 2022	Storm Costs on ChristmasThis storm comes amidst some of the busiest travel days of the year.
November 20, 2022	Black Friday Is ChangingConsumers and businesses alike will adjust to these tighter labor markets.
October 30, 2022	Remarkable Productivity Growth in Hospitality and TourismA more productive business requires—and hires—fewer workers.
September 11, 2022	Benefits and Costs of EducationFor the vast majority of students, college is among the best financial investments they will ever make.
August 7, 2022	It Is Time to Face the Facts About Factory JobsThe education and skills of today’s displaced factory workers don’t match the many available jobs nationwide.
July 24, 2022	Why Are Rich Places Growing and Poor Places in Decline?To participate in a new economy, a community’s workforce must possess the ability to absorb new skills that may be vastly different from what they currently know.
June 5, 2022	Mindless Economic Development Strategy?Much of what you see and read about these jobs announcements is raw political fiction.
May 22, 2022	The Undersupply of College Graduates Is Clobbering Indiana’s EconomyNationwide, about 8 in 10 of all net new jobs go to 4-year college graduates.
May 1, 2022	Lilly CEO Speaks to Indiana’s FutureIndiana must better educate a higher share of its young adults and make more communities into places they’d like to live.
April 3, 2022	The U.S. Job Creation MachineNo U.S. state, and very few cities, have more ‘global’ jobs than they did in the spring of 1992.
March 27, 2022	A Tough Two Decades for the Hoosier EconomyMost of Indiana’s job growth this century has been in low-wage work.
March 13, 2022	Economic Lessons From America’s Most Experienced Avon LadyJob flexibility is just as appealing to workers today as it was to housewives half a century ago.
January 2, 2022	2021 Was an Unnecessarily Horrible YearFrom political unrest to vaccination and economic woes, this year was heavy.
October 24, 2021	Deep Worries About Education and Employment Are Still With UsIndiana will start 2022 with three consecutive years of declining educational attainment of adults.
October 17, 2021	Market Adjustments Aren’t InflationToday, inflation is running far less than 1.0 percentage point off trend.
October 3, 2021	Automation and Today’s Labor Market ChallengesThe process of workers matching with employers is messy and slow.
September 26, 2021	What’s Happening in Labor MarketsWork environments and wages, as well as cost of care services, heavily influence choices in the current labor market.
September 5, 2021	The Evolving Nature of WorkWork has the potential to provide meaning and satisfaction, unconnected to the economic importance of the task at hand.
August 29, 2021	COVID Reveals Regional InequalityThe latest jobs report captures the geographic clustering of COVID and economic performance.
August 15, 2021	More Questions Than Answers About the Post-COVID WorkplaceWorkplaces vary widely in their degree of flexibility and productivity during the pandemic.
July 11, 2021	What Is ‘Quality of Place?’When choosing a place to live, workers consider the wages they will earn against the cost of housing and access to amenities.
May 30, 2021	Pay Shortage, Not Labor ShortageThe most relevant data is not on the quantity of jobs, but the wages that indicate whether or not there is a labor shortage.
May 16, 2021	College Grads and Today’s Job MarketFewer than half of adults with only a high school diploma are currently working, while more than two-thirds with a college degree are working.
May 2, 2021	Why Are We Hearing About a Labor Shortage?Government benefits are not to blame.
March 28, 2021	What Will This Economic Recovery Yield for Indiana?The quest to better fund schools and improve our workforce cannot become a partisan issue.
March 14, 2021	Two Sides of the Minimum WageWhat role should the government play?
March 7, 2021	Our Biggest Economic Challenge Is School Funding Better educational attainment both causes and is caused by a better economy.
December 27, 2020	Some Thoughts on the Coal EconomyMany of the cities and towns born in the Industrial Revolution have lost their original economic reason for being.
September 13, 2020	Confusing Economic Statistics in the Time of COVID-19Americans should be pleased with the economists, statisticians and data scientists examining our complex economic climate.
August 9, 2020	Some Thoughts on the COVID Impact on SportsSports provide great opportunities and lessons to young athletes and the industry generates billions of dollars in employment.
June 28, 2020	Visa Restriction Damages EconomyThis action will shrink the US economy by almost $100 billion this year alone.
May 3, 2020	What Are Essential Jobs?In normal times there is no such division as ‘essential’ or ‘non-essential’ workers.
February 16, 2020	The Economy Is Neither as Good nor Bad as Politicians ClaimEach of us view the economy through our own lens.
February 2, 2020	The College Wage Premium and Indiana’s Slow RecoveryIn the fastest growing urban places, half of all job advertisements are for college grads.
December 1, 2019	Economic Policies Stuck in the 1960sToday, we have fewer of the ‘footloose’ jobs and more of the ‘non-footloose’ jobs that depend on local sales.
November 3, 2019	Monopsony Problems Get Hearing in CongressSummary: Firms mistake the presence of monopsony power for a labor shortage.
September 1, 2019	Ideas, Not Labor or Capital, Made Our Modern EconomyThe focus of economic growth research in the last 40 years has been almost wholly about human capital and the power of ideas.
August 4, 2019	Indianapolis’ Wise Move on Tax Incentives Is Only a Start The problem facing America’s heartland cities is not really a shortage of good jobs, but a shortage of effectively skilled and educated workers.
May 30, 2019	Our ‘Business-Centric’ Model Is Wrong and HurtfulMistaking the economy of a nation or region as one giant company can lead to deep policy mistakes.
April 21, 2019	Casino Bill is About Taxes, Not JobsCasinos do not create jobs; they simply move employees from one business to another.
April 14, 2019	We Need to Send 10,000 More Hoosier Kids to College Next YearIf only 20 percent of the gains of higher education are due to actual learning or acquired skills, it may still be the best investment our state and local governments can make.
February 24, 2019	Poor Policy Has Weakened Indiana’s EconomyA return “to trend” is not good news for Indiana.
February 3, 2019	Another Brookings Study Marks Indiana “at Risk”Hoosier workforce and education policies have increased our vulnerability to job losses.
January 13, 2019	Factory Jobs Are Changing FastSummary: Productivity and education demands greatly affect factory employment.
January 6, 2019	Brookings Study Paints Grim Picture of Indiana’s Workforce Investment FocusWe are focusing our workforce spending towards yesterday’s jobs and doing little to prepare workers for the skills needed to enter the careers of the future.
December 30, 2018	Understanding Job Numbers in 2018An announcement of new jobs reflects only one small part of the total job creation and destruction that occurs in an economy.
December 2, 2018	GM’s Layoffs Are a Warning to Indiana’s Workforce PoliciesFactory jobs are not coming back and manufacturing employment will be a much smaller share of US jobs in the future.
September 16, 2018	Some Advice for High School GraduatesMost young workers will have to look to the private sector for training.
July 8, 2018	Donnelly’s Automation Adjustment Act Should Be EnactedMost workers were not eligible for assistance because of job losses to automation, not trade.
June 10, 2018	We Are on the Cusp of Relearning the Impacts of Trade WarsLet me explain briefly and plainly what trade is and what it is not.
June 3, 2018	Workforce Development Problems Are Deeper Than They SeemSince 1990, the United States has not created a single net new job for workers who have not been to college.
March 18, 2018	Low Unemployment Is Time to Rethink Our Economic Development PoliciesThe most important single assumption supporting all our economic development efforts is that labor supply is perfectly elastic.
January 21, 2018	Carrier Illustrates the Big Economic Shifts of Our TimeMachines eliminate some labor and shift the skill and educational requirements of the surviving jobs.
December 24, 2017	Manufacturing in Growth and TransitionSince 2001, 60 percent of all manufacturing GDP growth has occurred in just 10 cities.
December 3, 2017	Indiana Doesn’t Have a Jobs ProblemBusinesses in Indiana offer jobs that far outnumber the unemployed.
November 12, 2017	Time for More Strategic Thinking on EducationThe skills students need over the long run are those that enable them to master non-routine cognitive tasks.
September 17, 2017	The Lessons of Amazon and IndianapolisTax incentives should be viewed by all citizens with some skepticism.
January 29, 2017	Trade Deals Won’t Change Manufacturing EmploymentChanges to trade policy won’t have a meaningful effect on manufacturing employment.
January 22, 2017	The Wrong Political Message Won’t Help Our EconomyTo create jobs, focus on places, not businesses.
December 18, 2016	The Future of Manufacturing Production and JobsManufacturing production is well; manufacturing employment is not.
December 4, 2016	Carrier News About Much More Than TradeCarrier sent a message by timing its jobs announcement during last spring’s heated presidential primaries.
October 2, 2016	Economic Changes Mean Primacy of Place MattersMaking cities good for workers is good for business.
August 7, 2016	Labor Force Participation and ConspiraciesThe labor force does not include those who are not actively searching for or working in a job.
July 31, 2016	Labor Markets and InequalityFixing labor market inequality is no easy task.
July 24, 2016	Human Capital, Monopolies, Unions and the Vanishing Middle ClassWas the robust middle class simply a post-war boom?
April 24, 2016	Labor Markets Outcomes Value EducationThere are lots of jobs available for workers, but only if they have college degrees.
March 27, 2016	Technology Both Complements and Substitutes for LaborTechnology has replaced workers in routine, yet costly, occupations.
March 13, 2016	Manufacturing Production, Manufacturing Jobs and Snake-OilAmerican manufacturing production has been booming, while manufacturing employment has been in decline.
February 21, 2016	Some Surprising Lessons from CarrierIt would be wiser to invest in making people more productive.
February 7, 2016	Practical Men, Economic Development and Long-Dead EconomistsThe import-export economic base model is an outdated concept.
December 20, 2015	Leisure Labor Trade-off and the Holiday SeasonOur economy may be growing in areas that GDP doesn’t cover.
October 11, 2015	Get Rid of Regressive Payroll TaxesMuch of the tax burden is placed on the employees of a specific category of business.
September 6, 2015	The Future of Industrial UnionsFor much of its history, the American union movement lived and breathed the class struggle dynamic.
July 19, 2015	Workers Aren’t CommoditiesEconomic development and business attraction are misunderstood.
June 21, 2015	Watch Economic Development SpendingBusinesses must locate where their customers are, not where economic developers lure them.
June 14, 2015	Manufacturing Myths and RealitiesDespite some dips, the manufacturing industry is relatively healthy.
March 22, 2015	The Rate Hike CalculusThe Federal Reserve relies on economic models to keep markets in balance.
March 1, 2015	We Need to Study, Modify and Preserve TIFIn the coming months we must better understand the characteristics of good and bad TIFs using data, not just anecdote.
February 15, 2015	Jobs Report and the Polarized Labor MarketJob growth was very focused and specific to educational attainment.
January 25, 2015	Rockport Bill Is a Net Job KillerThough it may create jobs locally, this plan likely would increase tax costs and decrease jobs statewide.
January 18, 2015	Minimum Wage and Purple UnicornsBecause there is such variation in impacts across time and place, economists come down on both sides of the issue.
December 28, 2014	Labor Markets in 2014The data indicates this was a strong year for Indiana employers.
November 16, 2014	We Need Thoughtful, Sustained Policies for Growth, Not GimmicksLet's focus on an educated workforce and quality of place.
October 19, 2014	Polarized Labor Markets and the Supply and Demand of Unskilled Workers High-skilled and low-skilled workers face very different futures in this economy.
September 21, 2014	A Public Lecture on Economic Development PolicyThe changing economic landscape makes attracting people, not business, the successful strategy.
August 17, 2014	Embrace the College ExperienceFor academic success, nothing replaces pure dogged effort and drive.
July 13, 2014	Indiana Gets a Small Business RankingComplaints about high taxes might simply mean that local government isn't delivering sufficient quality for the cost of government.
March 16, 2014	Worry About Real Job CreationIn a good year there are more jobs created than destroyed, but in any year there is a lot of job churning.
March 16, 2014	Worry About Real Job CreationIn a good year there are more jobs created than destroyed, but in any year there is a lot of job churning.
January 12, 2014	The Coming Fed ActionsDevelopments in the Federal Reserve stimulus argument brew tantalizing ideas.
December 29, 2013	The Fed’s End-of-Year ActionsThe question is simply, why is this level of monetary growth not having a more visible effect?
December 15, 2013	Economic Development Studies and Tax AbatementOur research of state and local economic development programs yield some surprises
December 8, 2013	The Forecasting SeasonA forecast is designed to provide the best possible prediction of economic activity in the future.
December 1, 2013	Great Places and the Sweep of Economic GeographyOur parents entered an economy focused on factories; our children enter an economy focused on services and amenities.
November 17, 2013	QE3 and the Labor MarketThe sign of a truly positive jobs report would be the decline of stock prices in anticipation of the end of QE3.
November 3, 2013	A New Minimum Wage DebateIf we really wanted to help minimum wage workers, we could do better.
September 1, 2013	The Labor Movement in Full CollapseThe early successes of labor unions are partially to blame for their decline today.
May 12, 2013	Labor Markets Continue to SufferThe employment data we read about treat all jobs the same, whether they are 15 hours or 45 per week.
May 12, 2013	Labor Markets Continue to SufferThe employment data we read about treat all jobs the same, whether they are 15 hours or 45 per week.
March 17, 2013	Economic Data Hold Little Good NewsDespite the delight in the media, the February data tell a wretched story.
March 3, 2013	Manufacturing and the FutureThe machinery required for production requires different skills now than what was required in 1970.
March 3, 2013	Manufacturing and the FutureThe machinery required for production requires different skills now than what was required in 1970.
February 24, 2013	Stagnant Wages for Low-Wage Workers Are a ProblemToday, the plight of low-wage workers is a real and growing concern
February 24, 2013	Stagnant Wages for Low-Wage Workers Are a ProblemToday, the plight of low-wage workers is a real and growing concern
February 17, 2013	Let’s Try a $25 Minimum WageLabor markets are subject to the laws of supply and demand.
February 10, 2013	The Whys of Stock PricesThe shedding of 8 million unneeded workers boosted profits for lots of businesses.
January 27, 2013	Middle Class and Income InequalityThe middle class was built upon an abundance of well-paying but relatively low-skilled jobs.
January 27, 2013	Middle Class and Income InequalityThe middle class was built upon an abundance of well-paying but relatively low-skilled jobs.
January 13, 2013	Why Is the Unemployment Rate Still So High?In short, it took nearly all of us to make this happen.
January 13, 2013	Why Is the Unemployment Rate Still So High?In short, it took nearly all of us to make this happen.
October 28, 2012	More Clarity on Gender and PayIt should not be surprising that the majority of wage differences between men and women can be explained by schooling, occupational choice, and experience.
October 14, 2012	Not Lying, Just Bad News in Employment NumbersOne out of every 17 workers are part-time workers due to an ailing economy.
October 14, 2012	Not Lying, Just Bad News in Employment NumbersOne out of every 17 workers are part-time workers due to an ailing economy.
September 23, 2012	Performance Evaluations and the Way We Teach TeachersPerhaps we ought to entirely rethink the role of teachers colleges.
September 2, 2012	Labor Day and the Transformation of UnionsOn this weekend it might be good to focus on what has become of the labor movement that once meant so much to America.
August 20, 2012	A College Diploma Is Worthless, but the Education Is Priceless It is the college education that matters most, not the diploma.
July 22, 2012	Job Creation and DestructionGovernments don't create jobs, businesses do.
July 22, 2012	Job Creation and DestructionGovernments don't create jobs, businesses do.
July 9, 2012	Smart Cuts in GovernmentIt is often argued that government workers are overpaid and over-benefitted, but I think that the composition of the government workforce is a more pressing matter.
July 2, 2012	US Job Market and the EU CrisisOne need not have done well in math to appreciate that the creation of 150,000 new jobs per month is insufficient to budge the unemployment rate.
July 2, 2012	US Job Market and the EU CrisisOne need not have done well in math to appreciate that the creation of 150,000 new jobs per month is insufficient to budge the unemployment rate.
January 17, 2012	What to Expect from Right-to-Work Legislation in Indiana...we should expect no effect on manufacturing, for good or ill, in wages or employment as a consequence of RTW.
November 7, 2011	The Skinny on Community GrowthThe quality of the workforce matters more than anything else in the long haul of economic development.
September 19, 2011	The Efficacy of the American Jobs ActPresident Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act strikes as fair an attempt at stimulating the economy as is now possible. Whether or not it is good policy or will work is another question.
June 6, 2011	Education and New JobsThe hard truth is that all the jobs lost in the economy that will return already have.
February 21, 2011	Unemployment and Economic GrowthThe problem is we now have 7 million people who businesses really don’t need.
December 13, 2010	Compromise on Taxes and SpendingAt worst case, the budget impact of these actions is about 10% of last years’ deficit.
October 18, 2010	Why the Stimulus Didn’t Stimulate Enough. . . the stimulus kept the unemployment rate from rising to about 12 percent at a cost of $225,000 per job.
September 27, 2010	The End of a RecessionThe slow and uneven job growth combined with shockingly fast productivity growth eerily signals that much of our economy has gone through a structural change.
August 30, 2010	College Majors, Jobs and WagesEven college graduates with degrees in the lowest paying major at graduation were earning on average more than $50,000 within a decade.
August 16, 2010	Expectations and the Sluggish Recovery ..weighty confusion of federal policy has cost us an astounding 3.3 million jobs
May 10, 2010	Fear Drives the Immigration DebateFears of job losses are misplaced. This debate isn't about economics.
March 15, 2010	Recession Slows with Costly Job CreationWithout an explosion of Stimulus related employment, the economic models supporting it are in trouble.
February 8, 2010	Uncertainty is Crushing JobsThe greed for change will stall job growth and will slow the economy for the foreseeable future.
December 15, 2009	Forecast Grim for 2009The steepest job losses and declines in earnings are happening right now and will continue through the first three months of 2009.
October 12, 2009	Labor Market Declines PersistIt is unsurprising that many of these new jobs are lower paying than previous jobs.
September 28, 2009	Stimulus Not Offsetting Job LossesThe concern is not how many jobs have been created, but how few.
August 3, 2009	Implications of Structural UnemploymentWe are under robust international competitive pressure for continual improvements by both workers and industry.
June 29, 2009	What is Driving Current Unemployment?Structural unemployment comes about when the skills of a worker become redundant.
March 16, 2009	Providing Amenities is Economic DevelopmentIn the short run, workers follow jobs, but in the long run, jobs follow workers.
February 9, 2009	Unemployment Duration Lengthens and Job Losses ContinueThe next couple months will still be rocky, but not significantly worse than the three months we’ve just passed.
July 28, 2008	Jobs Lost to LegislationAs many as 600 Indiana mortgage brokers in the state are likely to be forced out of business because of ill-considered regulatory changes.
February 25, 2008	The Chamber’s Study on Indiana’s Workforce“Simply put, one in four working aged adults in Indiana today cannot read a street map, divide one-half by one-eighth, or fill out a job application.”
January 21, 2008	One of the World’s Nastiest Jobs“Tax policy changes hatch “lobbyist math” proposals.”
December 10, 2007	Exporting From Indiana"Indiana's exporting firms are heavily concentrated in just a few manufacturing sectors."
October 15, 2007	Globalization and Manufacturing in Indiana "The fundamental cause of most of our manufacturing job loses is simply increasing worker productivity.”
October 3, 2007	Where Have all the Unions Gone? "As workers become more important to businesses, unions become less important to workers – hence their decline.”
September 17, 2007	The "R" Word "Fortunately, being overdue for a recession is poor predictor of future recessions.”
September 3, 2007	Labor Day and the American Worker" ... the average Hoosier, in 1900 enjoyed about the same standard of living as today’s resident of Kazakhstan or Jamaica.”
August 13, 2007	Is the Indiana Economy Growing?"... those job counts miss a lot of things that factor into the prosperity of communities around the state."
June 18, 2007	Will Indiana Always Lag in Job Growth? "...despite the easy answers you may hear to this riddle in your break room or hallway, getting at the reasons why is harder than you think."
June 11, 2007	Nothing New About Indiana's Manufacturing Employment Declines"Even as its employment totals shrink, Indiana’s economy remains more focused in manufacturing industries than ever before."
April 9, 2007	Indiana Employment Update "... [T]he real story in Indiana employment growth is what we are much less certain about, namely, payroll growth in the services producing side of the economy."
January 15, 2007	Reading the Tea Leaves on Employment Growth "We’re job growth laggards in this part of the country, pure and simple."
December 11, 2006	Researching Riddles from the Labor Market "...even some of the most basic research on the economy, such as recording, tabulating, and tracking jobs, reveals some surprisingly deep insights."
November 13, 2006	Look Early to Solve the Technology Deficit "The technological dominance that many of us take as a birthright has begun to erode at an astonishing rate."
August 28, 2006	Job Growth in the News "...the evidence that overall growth has cooled in the last twelve months is becoming persuasive.
July 31, 2006	The Truth About Small Business "About 53 percent of net job growth in the last decade has come from businesses with more than 100 employees."
June 19, 2006	The Shifting Sands of Employment Data "The “facts” on job growth are something we can never exactly know, although we’d expect a well designed survey to come acceptably close."
April 24, 2006	An Early Read on the State Economy in 2006 "A solid appraisal of state job growth involves more than just picking a couple of monthly employment numbers out of a hat."
March 20, 2006	Indiana Employment Report Card Arrives "...like wine, we should let the data on state and metro area job growth age a bit before we act on what it tells us."
March 13, 2006	What’s Next for Auto Industry Jobs"Despite the rhetoric of workers and executives, salvation is not one “hot” selling product away."
March 6, 2006	What It Takes to Recruit Talent "What do prospects see when they evaluate your community against the competition?"
February 20, 2006	Services Jobs Come to Muncie " Those who anticipate working in an environment where tasks and hours are standardized, with flat rate compensation, and where raises and promotions accrue with seniority may be in for surprise. "
January 6, 2006	Aligning Workforce and Economic Development"... the labor demands of the production side of the economy have shrunk to the point where the industrial sector simply can’t anchor the economic base the way it once did."
November 18, 2005	Distinguishing Ourselves From the Competition"In the coming decade, it’s a pretty safe bet that distinctions between Midwest states like Indiana and the rest of the country will become more blurred, but that day isn’t here yet."
September 9, 2005	The Challenge for Indiana’s Workforce " The harsh truth is that when we try to create, nurture and recruit companies who sell expertise and knowledge, instead of physical goods, our workforce capabilities are a detriment, instead of an asset."
August 26, 2005	Health Care Premiums Are Killing Jobs "... in a world where employers pick up a large share of health care costs of their workforce, rising health costs make it harder to find and keep a job."
August 12, 2005	Separating Job Growth Fact from Fiction v"There are more oddball, inexplicable, and exaggerated movements in employment, hours, and earnings data for the month of July than at any time of the year."
August 5, 2005	The Bright Star in the Center of Indiana "Indianapolis is not only growing its job base faster than the rest of the state, but the earnings and growth potential of many of those jobs is stronger as well."
July 15, 2005	The Indiana Economy at Mid Year "The good news is that the fire that is propelling the state’s economic engine – growth in the industrial economy – appears to be still burning brightly."
June 24, 2005	Put Away the Job-Counting Calculators "If we can pry our eyes away from job totals and consider a different way of keeping score, a picture of the state economy emerges that may surprise you."
June 17, 2005	Where Do Job Skills Come From? "...some research now suggests that some of the most important determinants of our future earnings are formed at a very young age."
May 20, 2005	The Outlook for the Labor Market "Much has been written and said in Indiana about the kinds of jobs that are disappearing in communities throughout the state. But much less is said, or understood, about the kinds of jobs that are taking their place."
March 18, 2005	Turning the Tide on Job Growth "We are a production-oriented state, and right now the production side of the economy is booming."
March 11, 2005	Indiana Records Strong Job Growth "...statisticians have always known that surveys of job growth do a much better job of capturing job destruction – the layoff of workers by existing companies – than they do in picking up job creation."
March 4, 2005	More Wind in the Sails of Job Growth "...the new century U.S. economy is still one of the brightest stars on the global stage when it comes to growth."
January 7, 2005	Job Growth Sure Beats the Alternative "...the recovery from the 2001 recession has left us plenty of unpaid bills, especially in the public sector."
November 5, 2004	Indiana Manufacturing in Perspective "Is the Indiana manufacturing economy in decline? That depends on how you keep score."
October 8, 2004	Sizing Up the Labor Market "For those hoping for a quick rebound from the soft consumer spending levels of recent months, the September jobs report is a big disappointment."
September 24, 2004	The Myth of Manufacturing Jobs "We have been accustomed to think of manufacturing as the driver of wealth creation in our communities and regions for so long that it is hard to think of anything else taking its place."
July 23, 2004	A Closer Look at Manufacturing "... manufacturing industries have not been a contributor to employment growth in more than a generation."
June 25, 2004	Education and the Indiana Workforce "When it comes to job growth and earnings growth in the national economy, the biggest strides have been made in white collar occupations where college degrees are required."
June 11, 2004	Can We Afford to Buy New Jobs? "There isn’t enough money in the public till to simply pay companies to create jobs where we want them."
June 4, 2004	What's Really Behind Stronger Job Growth "... to say that it has been the President’s leadership that has created almost 1.4 million jobs in the U.S. economy since last September, or destroyed 2.7 million jobs in the two years prior to that point, is nonsense."
May 28, 2004	Are We Missing the Obvious? "... the recovery in the U.S. economy is obvious to those of us who make a daily diet of the statistics which detail its performance."
May 21, 2004	The Challenge for Growth in Indiana, Part II "... how could we go about changing the Indiana economy so we can start climbing, instead of falling, in the rankings of economic performance and prosperity?."
May 7, 2004	GDP is Nice, but Job Growth is Better "There was good news on just about every page of the April jobs report."
April 2, 2004	Counting Jobs Not as Simple as It Sounds "Rising self-employment, plus gains in new business startups that can elude and survey of existing businesses, have thrown a monkey wrench into the simple idea of using payrolls to count jobs."
March 19, 2004	Where Are the Jobs? "...blaming corporations or foreign trade for destroying jobs is like blaming rain and sunshine for destroying crops"
March 12, 2004	Revising Indiana's Job Loss Ranking "Revising the employment numbers didn’t pull silk out of a sow’s ear, to be sure, but it erased a bit of the shame we endured last year."
February 20, 2004	New Data Put State Economy in Better Light " ... the job data say that the recession-related job declines essentially stopped in the spring of 2002, or more than twelve months earlier than previously published."
January 16, 2004	The Indiana Economy at Year's End " ... in Indiana in 2003 manufacturing was hardly the only sector in the red."
December 19, 2003	What the Employment Statistics Really Tell Us "Although Indiana's job gains of almost one percent since the year's mid-point are encouraging, we would need to gain another 80,000 jobs statewide just to catch up with the rest of the nation."
November 14, 2003	What Kind of Jobs Do You Want? "Indiana's manufacturers are, by necessity, world class competitors, but the forces that make them so will always restrict their payroll growth. "
October 17, 2003	Midwest Marches to a Different Drummer "From Wisconsin to Kentucky, west to Illinois and east to Ohio forms a block of states whose employment losses have been among the largest in the nation."
September 12, 2003	Getting Used to Stagnant Job Growth "There is no "bounce-back" in hiring in the aftermath of recession because employers have made adjustments to permanently eliminate the need for the lost jobs. "
August 8, 2003	Tearing Down Jobs in Order to Build New Ones "Small companies create an enormous number of new jobs, but the data suggest that they simultaneously destroy a nearly equal number."
July 18, 2003	Second Half Economy: Recovery or Disappointment? "The so-called 'jobless recovery' experienced in the wake of the 1991 recession is back with us again."
May 30, 2003	The Manufacturing Economy is Hurting "Production-related jobs lost to technological change or global competition will not come back, at least in the same form, when demand starts to rise again."
May 9, 2003	Is Indiana's Economy Still Getting Worse? "The preliminary April employment totals, as adjusted for seasonal variation by the Bureau of Business Research, were down by 39,000 jobs statewide from their high point at the beginning of this year."
February 28, 2003	The Message of the 2001 Recession "When you look at manufacturing employment, the recession of 2001 has been nearly twice as severe as the recession of 1991 and is only eclipsed by the devastating downturn we experienced in 1982 in terms of job loss."
January 24, 2003	Is Indiana Job Growth As Bad As They Say? "Throughout this entire recession, unemployment rates have been lower in our state than the national average -- by at least a full percentage point. Are we really better off than everyone else?"
January 3, 2003	The Invisible Story of Job Creation "When it comes to reviewing the state's economic performance, our attention is inevitably drawn to big events."
December 20, 2002	A Tale of Two Economies "In a twelve month span that has seen no net job growth in the overall economy, the health services industry has added 280,000 new jobs. But that growth has not come without cost.
December 13, 2002	Energy for the Indiana Economy"The battle to attract new investment, new jobs, and, yes, new residents is one that we cannot afford to keep losing."
December 6, 2002	There's Little Comfort in Consensus"...if the job market doesn’t show some improvement soon, the growth in income -- which provides the fuel for consumer spending -- will be seriously threatened."
September 27, 2002	Getting a Handle on Indiana's Low-Wage Status "In terms of employment, the higher wage industries and regions within the state have essentially stagnated over the course of the last twenty years."
July 26, 2002	The Perfect Storm for Indiana Income? "Over the last year, income received by individuals has averaged a mere 1.2 percent gain, less than what it would take to keep up with inflation over the same period."
July 5, 2002	Job Growth Would Be a Refreshing Change for the U.S. Economy "...if we could have just one of those quarter-million job growth reports of yesteryear we would practically kiss the ground."
May 3, 2002	Reading Between the Lines on Indiana Unemployment Rates "Unemployment rates in virtually every corner of the state fell in the month of March."
April 5, 2002	Robust Employment Growth Has Yet to Arrive "Businesses nationwide are not yet contemplating the kind of expansions that fatten payrolls."
April 5, 2002	Robust Employment Growth Has Yet to Arrive "Bbusinesses nationwide are not yet contemplating the kind of expansions that fatten payrolls.
March 29, 2002	Have Unemployment Rates Peaked in Indiana? "The reality for most households is that this simple employment question looms largest in determining our economic well-being."
February 22, 2002	Industrial Economy Still Pays the Bills in Indiana "For the economic slowdown that began in the fall of 2000 for the state economy has hit the bottom lines for many businesses in our state -- and their stockholders -- very hard."
December 7, 2001	Another Grim Employment Report "Job cuts pushed the overall employment decline beyond the 1.2 million job mark since the recession officially began in March."
September 7, 2001	U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises Significantly "The news of the 0.4 percentage point jump in the national jobless rate will be seen by many as the first real sign that the slowdown that has gripped the U.S. economy since last fall is real."
June 15, 2001	Indiana's Economic Growth a Matter of Perspective "We who live today in Indiana in the midst of a manufacturing-led economic downturn must ask ourselves the difficult question: are the jobs the state economy has lost in the last six months going to come back? "
June 1, 2001	Is the Labor Shortage Over? "The U.S. unemployment rate, even in the teeth of the slowdown, has risen by about half a percentage point. "
May 4, 2001	Do Employment Changes Trail or Lead the U.S. Economy? "In these uncertain economic times, it seems like we can select an optimistic or a pessimistic spin on almost any piece of information we receive."
April 13, 2001	A Tale of Two Economies "The Indiana legislature should be forgiven for trying to spend more money that the state has."
April 6, 2001	Sour Notes in the March Employment Report "The past six months have not been a particularly rosy time for the U.S. economy."
January 12, 2001	Higher Unemployment Rates Ahead for Indiana "The next few months are going to be difficult for the Indiana manufacturing economy, as it stands first in line to bear the brunt of the slowdown that is rapidly snowballing through the U.S. economy."

Center for Business and Economic Research - Ball State University

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