labor force

Day laborers congregate outside of a Home Depot in Brooklyn, NY in June 2024.

Economy

An asylum seeker's long road to a work permit

7:52pm July 11, 2024

There are currently just under 65,000 migrants in New York City's shelter system, stretching the city's outworn social service systems. Today on the show, we follow one asylum seeker's journey from Venezuela to New York and explore why the process is lengthy and complicated.

Related episodes:
Is the 'border crisis' actually a labor market crisis? (Apple / Spotify)
'Welcome to the USA! Now get to work.' (Apple / Spotify)
The migrant match game (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Doctors from across the U.S. come together at an action to protect abortion access outside the U.S. Capitol building on November 03, 2022. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Doctors for Abortion Action)

Economy

How the end of Roe is reshaping the medical workforce

3:30pm July 01, 2024

It's been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion, triggering a parade of restrictions and bans in conservative-led states. Today on the show, how the medical labor force is changing post-Roe and why graduating medical students, from OB-GYNs to pediatricians, are avoiding training in states with abortion bans.

Related listening:
What's the cure for America's doctor shortage?
KFF: Medical Residents Are Increasingly Avoiding Abortion Ban States

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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The country has seen a dramatic shift away from jobs requiring physical strength. Fewer than 1 in 10 jobs now require what's called heavy work, a sector once dominated by men.

Men are struggling. A new book explores why and what to do about it

9:43pm November 04, 2022

by Andrea Hsu

In his new book Of Boys and Men, Richard V. Reeves of the Brookings Institution argues that men must move into fields that are now dominated by women to reverse economic declines.

Instead of going back to a corporate job, Farida Mercedes started her own business. It pays less, but she has more flexibility to spend time with her sons Sebastian (left) and Lucas, ages 7 and 9.

Economy

Women are returning to (paid) work after the pandemic forced many to leave their jobs

10:12am September 28, 2022

by Scott Horsley

The number of women in the workforce has finally returned to pre-pandemic levels, which is good for the economy. But after time away from the job market some women are reassessing their priorities.

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Economy

Economic growth at Triad megasite and airport brings challenges

4:53pm March 30, 2022

by David Ford

After years of planning and development by the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite Foundation, Piedmont Triad International Airport, and other local leaders, the hard work is bearing fruit.

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Farida Mercedes and her two sons Sebastian, 5, (left) and Lucas, 7, stand in their backyard in Fairlawn, N.J. Mercedes left her job as an assistant VP of HR at L'Oreal in August after working there for 17 years. As hundreds of thousands of women dropped o

'My Family Needs Me': Latinas Drop Out Of Workforce At Alarming Rates

4:17pm October 27, 2020

by Scott Horsley

Women are leaving the workforce at four times the rate of men. The shift is especially pronounced among Latina women, and that could have lasting effects for the broader economy.

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The long economic recovery has brought unemployment to historic lows. But the number of men in the labor force during their prime working age has dropped significantly over the past 50 years.

Economy

Despite Job Boom, More Men Are Giving Up On Work

10:21am December 05, 2019

by Jim Zarroli

The long economic recovery has brought unemployment to historic lows. But the number of men in the labor force during their prime working age has dropped significantly over the past 50 years.

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In this photo, women fill out job applications at a JobNewsUSA job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla.

New Report Says College-Educated Women Will Soon Make Up Majority Of U.S. Labor Force

10:52pm June 20, 2019

by Dani Matias

This year U.S. women who graduated from college will likely make up a majority of adults with degrees in the labor force. The increase could signal greater earning potential for women in the future.

Gaby Gemetti decided to leave the workforce after having her second child. In March she started a "returnship," a new type of program to recruit and retrain women like her who are looking to resume their careers. Here, Gaby and John Gemetti are seen with

Hot Job Market Is Wooing Women Into Workforce Faster Than Men

12:43pm May 20, 2019

by Yuki Noguchi

Over the past three years, women returned to the workforce at more than double the rate of men. Growth in industries that rely on women and heavy recruitment of women might help explain why.

Betty Fernandez of Macy's department store speaks with a potential applicant about job openings during a job fair in Miami on April 5. Employers added far more jobs than expected in April — another sign the U.S. economy is chugging along as the expansio

Unemployment Drops To 3.6%, 263,000 Jobs Added, Showing Economy Remains Strong

2:15pm May 03, 2019

by Scott Horsley

Employers added far more jobs than expected in April — another sign the U.S. economy is chugging along as the expansion nears the 10-year mark. The unemployment rate was the lowest since 1969.

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