When public school systems switched to remote learning, parents who required child care paid high sums for day care that relied on workers who were earning minimum wage - now, those same day care businesses are struggling to recover with high turnover of low-wage workers. Read more»

According to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, more than 90% of domestic workers are women, and many are also immigrants and people of color — all groups that disproportionately felt the damaging effects of the pandemic. Read more»

Arizona Gov. Ducey and nearly half of other state governors have acted to prematurely end the increased unemployment benefits that President Biden promised would be in place until Sept. 4, blaming the pandemic-related uptick in unemployment payments for the struggle employers are facing to hire workers. Read more»

A new report found that Arizona ranked 50th in median annual earnings for teachers after adjusting for cost of living. Arizona teachers earned only $47,606 — more than $2,100 less than the adjusted pay for educators in Oklahoma. Arizona’s two largest metropolitan areas, Phoenix and Tucson, ranked 48th and 50th, respectively, among large cities. Read more»

Despite the improvements, the Census Bureau numbers show Arizona’s poverty rate remained higher than the nation, where the rate was 12.3% last year. Read more»

Arizona posted one of the sharpest unemployment drops in the country in May, falling from a historic high of 13.4% in April to 8.9% last month, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read more»

The number of new jobless claims fell for a second straight week, but the number of unemployed continued to rise in Arizona and the nation in what one expert calls a shock to workers and a “huge shock” to the system. Read more»

Thousands of dollars started arriving in Arizonans’ bank accounts this week as the first payments from the massive coronavirus relief package began to be distributed in the form of expanded unemployment benefits and direct stimulus payments. Read more»

The U.S. Department of Labor reported 6.6 million people applied for unemployment insurance benefits over the last week—roughly 2% of the country’s population. Read more»

The Senate gave overwhelming approval Wednesday to a multibillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill, the second such bill in two weeks, and immediately turned its attention to a third bill that could have a $1 trillion price tag. Read more»

As many as 20,000 Arizona workers could be guaranteed overtime pay when they do overtime work under a Labor Department rule that took effect Jan. 1, the first change to the rule since 2004. Read more» 1

The steady decline in union membership has had a ripple effect on wages of nonunion workers, costing them a potential $14 to $52 a week in pay, according to a report released this week. Read more»

Infant child care in Arizona costs an average of $9,437 a year, rivaling in-state college tuition and putting care out of reach for many families, according to a recent report. And Arizona’s costs were on the low end when compared to the rest of the nation, with infant care costs in Washington, D.C., reaching $22,631 annually. Read more»

Bernie Sanders has repeatedly said 51 percent of young black high school graduates are “unemployed.” That’s wrong. Read more»

Arizona had the second-highest income inequality in the nation between 2008 and 2010, trailing only New Mexico for the gap between its richest and poorest residents, a new report says. Read more»