Census 2011 Update: Ohio poverty rates still too high, incomes drop, health coverage holds steady
Ohioans are continuing to struggle, and the gains being made in the private sector and at the top of the economy are not being widely felt. One bright spot is that smart public policy works
Land of (In)Equal Opportunity
Andy Brownfield’s piece in Cincinnati CityBeat digs into State of Working Ohio 2012, our annual review of the state’s labor market, highlighting the higher rates of unemployment and lower wages impacting women and blacks. The report
Are You Listening Ohio? It’s Me, Washington
Rana B. Khoury “Are you listening in Michigan and Ohio?” asked Bill Clinton during his notable speech at the Democratic National Convention this week. He wanted to ensure that Ohioans heard him loud and clear when he announced the “job score” that came out of the auto industry restructuring enacted by President Obama at the start of […]
Campaigns fighting for votes in battleground Ohio
Jackie Borchardt, Jeremy P. Kelley It’s no mystery why Ohio is the perennial presidential campaign prize. With 18 electoral votes, it’s a big state and it’s fickle. In the last six presidential elections, Republicans have won Ohio three times and Democrats three times. That’s why the candidate committees and big name Super PACs have spent […]
What’s up with Ohio workers
State of Working Ohio
Study: Wages, jobs suffering in Ohio
Russ Zimmer Paychecks aren’t buying as much as they used to A new study on labor in Ohio suggests that although conditions are better for workers in the third year of the recovery, they’re still awful by historical standards. The “State of Working Ohio 2012,” a report by left-leaning economic think tank Policy Matters Ohio, […]
Ohio Jobless Numbers Still Falter According To Policy Matters Ohio
Karen Kasler On this Labor Day, Ohio’s unemployment rate is at a three year low. But a progressive leaning think tank also notes just over 64 percent of Ohioans are in the workforce
Ohio’s funding for schools much lower than before recession
It’s unfathomable that we would go backwards, decreasing education funding, when we know it’s the best way to improve skills, help our economy, enrich kids’ lives, and brighten our future.
Job growth too slow as labor market sags, report says
Eric Schwartzberg Ohio’s labor market has seen better days. The state’s median wage is dropping, job growth is too slow and labor force participation is falling for all demographics and to historic lows for some groups. That’s according to a State of Working Ohio 2012 review by Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, non-partisan policy research […]
Address loopholes in tax laws
Editorial When Ohio had a corporate franchise tax, companies were able to write off losses against future income. The idea was that the companies would generate taxable profits in the future. Ohio eliminated the franchise tax in favor of the commercial activity tax. However, the state never eliminated the write-offs against future income even though […]
Another Ohio
This editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal begins with Gov. Kasich’s perspective: John Kasich loves to tell “Ohio’s story,” a sunny account of a stunning turnaround, the $8 billion deficit erased, the rise from 48th in job creation in 2009 to fourth in the nation today, a rainy day fund that has grown from pennies […]
Labor Day in Ohio: Lots to cheer, more to fear
“ON THIS Labor Day weekend, workers in Toledo and the rest of Ohio have much to celebrate — but even more to lose sleep over,” writes David Kushma, editorial writer at The Toledo Blade in a piece that draws heavily on our State of Working Ohio 2012. He writes: It’s encouraging that Ohio’s unemployment rate […]