Good morning, Chair Carruthers, Ranking Member Liston and members of the Subcommittee. My name is Michael Shields and I am a senior researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization with the mission of creating a more prosperous, equitable, sustainable and inclusive Ohio. Thank you for the opportunity
The takeaway: The annual benchmark to jobs data showed that Ohio’s job recovery was stronger than previously reported and Ohio is now in striking distance of restoring the jobs lost to COVID-19. Public officials’ failure to restore state and local government jobs is the biggest drag on recovery and accounts
The takeaway: Ohio continued to add jobs last month, but that was offset by a downward revision for November — pushing the state further from recovery than previously thought. Rapid interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have made jobs recovery more difficult in recent months. December inflation slowed to
40-year inflation high shows wisdom of voters’ safeguard Next month, Ohio’s minimum wage gets an 80-cent adjustment to $10.10 per hour to keep up with rising prices. The adjustment is the biggest on record, and will benefit some 466,000 Ohioans. The Economic Policy Institute estimated that 188,300 Ohioans now paid
Fifty-four of Ohio’s largest employers paid their CEOs a median of 396 times what they paid the typical employee in 2021 – an increase over 2020’s ratio of 322, according to a new report by Policy Matters Ohio. The federal Dodd-Frank Act requires publicly traded companies to provide the ratio
Introduction A thriving community depends on the work of everyone, from the retail clerk who greets customers to the janitor who cleans the countertop. But for decades, corporate executives held down pay for the typical Ohio worker, while they lavished themselves with enormous raises. The pandemic has magnified the growing
The takeaway: Ohio continued to add jobs last month but is still missing over 100,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic nearly three years ago. An overcorrection against inflation is emerging as the biggest threat to the continued jobs recovery, since the tools to stem inflation work by slowing
Cleveland City Council voted tonight to approve the Wage Theft and Payroll Fraud Prevention Ordinance, a move that will hold dishonest employers accountable, help working Clevelanders make ends meet, and make sure our city budget is not rewarding companies who steal from their workers. Over the past year, the Guardians
The takeaway: Good news for working Ohio. The state posted substantial job gains in October, and a large revision to September’s data found gains for that month as well. Inflation fell to 7.7% in November, below its 8.0% projection, reaching its lowest level since January. Efforts by the Federal Reserve
A bill introduced over the summer would extend unemployment compensation (UC) coverage to 482,000 working Ohioans who are now blocked from benefits primarily because they are paid too little, according to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio. Senate Bill 355, sponsored by Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), would lower the
Everyone who works deserves the security of knowing that if their job ends, they’ll be able to get by long enough to find a new one. During the Great Depression, working people and advocates pushed policymakers to create an unemployment compensation system, so when people lose their jobs through no
The takeaway: Ohio employers cut jobs last month for the first time since last October. The monthly numbers are always preliminary and subject to revision, but if this month’s data hold, they could be an early sign that Ohio’s recovery from the COVID recession is beginning to falter as the
