This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Pennsylvania's economic conditions, detailing various economic indicators and labor market trends, including data on inflation, unionization benefits, and the impact of erratic tariff policies that may be sparking renewed inflation and eroding investment. Unemployment has increased, hiring has…

As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented economic and policy challenges to the United States and other countries. Navigating out of the pandemic slowdown is another novel experience, which makes it more difficult to answer the question addressed each year in the "State of Working Pennsylvania": How is the Pennsylvania economy…

Employability features more prominently on the agenda of higher education institutions when the economy falters or changes: the majority of students, and their families, expect a degree to deliver a career pathway as well as an education. This paper explores some of the trends and predictions in the rapidly changing world of work and proposes a…

It is common for organizations such as the International Labour Organization and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to acknowledge that the links between education and work are far from smooth, creating a "crisis" for youth. This includes increasing rates of unemployment, under-employment and precarious work. In…

Skyrocketing college tuitions and trillion-dollar student loan debt have put college and university spending in the spotlight. Policymakers, parents, and students are asking why tuitions at public four-year colleges and universities have soared nearly 160 percent since 1990 and how this is affecting the higher education workforce. This report…

The Great Recession that began in December 2007 laid bare many of the shortcomings of the American workforce, especially the lack of workers with postsecondary education. A large majority of jobs lost in the recession and in the recovery had been held by workers with a high school diploma or less. The only real gains made during the still…

The economic boom of the 1990s veiled a grim reality: in addition to the growing gap between rich and poor, the gap between good and bad quality jobs was also expanding. The postwar prosperity of the mid-twentieth century had enabled millions of American workers to join the middle class, but as author Arne L. Kalleberg shows, by the 1970s this…

The rising cost of college education and high unemployment levels among recent college graduates are raising the question "Is college worth its cost?" in the minds of many Americans. A recent study published by the Associated Press found that one out of every two recent college graduates is jobless or underemployed, suggesting maybe college isn't…

The nation's recuperation from the Great Recession remains sluggish, with high unemployment and a weak housing market continuing to squelch hopes that a full economic recovery will soon be at hand. The intensity and nature of the recession's lingering effects vary considerably across the country, however. Some metro areas, like Austin and…

This paper presents the recruiting trends for 2010-2011. This year's report is based on nearly 5,800 respondents, of which approximately 4,600 provided useable information, and 3,714 included complete hiring figures used for the projections. Despite the gloomy national labor market situation, the college segment of the market is poised to rebound…

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. With a duration of eighteen months, this recession was almost double the length of the average post-World War II economic downturn. Although the worst recession since the Great Depression is now technically over, this analysis…

The Great Recession left a crater in the labor market that has been devastating for unemployed Americans of all ages. After more than two years of unemployment at well over 8%, there is a hole of more than 11 million jobs, with average spells of unemployment lasting nearly nine months. The weak labor market has been particularly tough on young…

This paper presents the recruiting trends for 2009-2010. This year's report is based on over 2,500 respondents, of which approximately 2,259 provided useable information with 1,846 including complete hiring figures used for the projections. The researchers continued their focus on fast-growth companies and expanded their efforts to ensure a…

This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008. One of the topics of the meeting was around the issue of possible skills shortages emerging as a result of demographic trends, with the ageing of the population of developed countries. The paper argues that this…