Today’s News & Commentary — October 26, 2017
According to this New York Time article, the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance rose by less than expected. While unemployment claims had risen due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the labor market seems to have recovered from those two storms. This marks the 138th straight week that unemployment claims remained below 300,000 which is the level associated with a strong labor market.
According to this article, Iowa public sector employees overwhelmingly voted to recertify their unions. Specifically, 436 out of 468 public sector bargaining units voted in favor of retaining the existing union. The Iowa State Legislature recently passed a law requiring recertification whenever a new contract is negotiated, as opposed to just when a member petitions for decertification.
According to this article and a recent Bloomberg analysis of US Bureau of Labor Statistics Data, renewable energy is creating jobs faster than any other sector. Specifically, solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians will grow twice as fast as any other occupation. The new jobs in solar are driven by US capacity for solar energy rising by 72% year over year in the past decade
