Working + The Economy
#MeToo: An overnight phenomenon after only 11 years
Tarana Burke coined the phrase “Me Too” in 2006. More than a decade later, she was among the featured “silence breakers” selected as the 2017 TIME Person of the Year. What started as a community project is now a global movement. Burke advocates for survivors of sexual violence, amplifying the voices of thousands of victims […]
Report measures material hardships among working adults
As of May, 660,000 Nevadans were on Medicaid, most of them mothers and children, or the aged, blind and disabled. In 2016, a monthly average of 440,000 Nevadans in 140,000 households received Supplemental Nutritional Assistance — food stamps. Roughly 70 percent of those households were families with nonelderly residents in which typically at least one […]
Nevada ranks as fifth most golfy state, sort of
Nevada has the fifth-highest golf industry location quotient in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this week. Right. What’s that mean? “Location quotient” the BLS says, is “the ratio of an industry’s share of statewide employment to its national share. A location quotient greater than 1 means the industry share of statewide employment is higher […]
When the economy and families fail to provide, schools have to step in
When employees at the convenience store a quarter mile away from Robert Taylor Elementary School notice a student shoplifting, they will sometimes call its principal to report the incident. “They call me,” says Kimberly Basham. “Me!” The principal is only feigning shock over the concept of being on gas station speed dial. She welcomes having […]
Trump’s plan to boost coal will hurt Nevada, groups warn
Nevada conservationists joined the chorus of critics nationwide and blasted the Trump administration’s plan to boost output at coal-burning power plants. Trump moved formally Tuesday to replace President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, an environmental policy that aimed to curb climate change by moving the power sector away from coal and toward renewable energy sources […]
Food deserts: Residents struggle in neighborhoods without supermarkets
Zel & Mary Lowman Elementary school is in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Las Vegas. It is adjacent to Nellis Air Force Base, the average salary is around $22,000 and many parents don’t have cars. The nearest grocery store is six miles away. “For many areas within my district five to six miles is […]
Real wages down year over year
Real average hourly earnings for all employees in the U.S. decreased 0.2 percent from July 2017 to July 2018, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported this week. For production and nonsupervisory employees, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.4 percent compared to July 2017. Economists are infamously “puzzled” as to why higher employment rates have not […]
Immigrants fill construction void, struggle for pay
September marks the 10th anniversary of the Wall Street collapse that decimated Nevada’s housing market, slashed the construction workforce by more than half and forced thousands of construction tradesmen to hang up their tool belts in search of new careers. Builders who racked up record gains only to have the economy tank in 2008 have […]
Rosen tries to make wages a campaign issue
Sen. Dean Heller told attendees of a Latin Chamber of Commerce event last week that he doesn’t believe minimum wage should be set at the federal level, and instead should be decided by governors and legislators at the state level. Nevada Democrats immediately jumped on the comment, using it to paint Heller as an out-of-touch […]
Arizona may get an electricity deregulation debate, too
Sixteen states, mostly in the northeast, have adopted electricity deregulation in one form of another. Nevadans will determine whether they want to join them when voters decide the outcome of the Question 3 state constitutional amendment in November. And Arizona may also be moving toward deregulation — again. Five years ago the Arizona Corporations Commission […]
The simple truth about Question 3
“Competition is good,” declares the campaign for Question 3. “It’s that simple” If Question 3 passes, Nevada will have to create rules and guidelines for energy traders who will parachute into the state to buy electricity wholesale and sell it to you retail. The end result will be many things. “Simple” won’t be one of […]
What’s going on with the resort industry anyway?
Falling stock prices, meh, whatever. But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports a lot of stats are down year-to-date, including visitor volume, convention attendance and holy sacred RevPAR amen. And this is amidst what we are told is a booming national economy. This morning the R-J reports that MGM is lowering room rates. […]