Friday, November 14, 2003

Cities try new tactic to boost lowest wages San Francisco increased its minimum wage to $8.50 an hour - 65 percent more than the federal standard. Other locales are making similar moves. Christian Science Monitor November 13, 2003 http://search.csmonitor.com/2003/1113/p01s02-usec.htm By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor San Francisco - When San Francisco voters raised the minimum wage in this city last week to $8.50 an hour - 65 percent more than the federal standard - they helped Emma LeBoeuf inch closer to a long-held hope.... And while studies have shown that modest minimum-wage increases have a relatively small effect, some experts suggest the magnitude of San Francisco's jump makes it unprecedented - and renders past data unreliable. "It certainly seems to be a new frontier," says DAVID CARD, AN ECONOMIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY who has studied the issue. He expresses some surprise that the initiative didn't provide some exemption for restaurants, expected to be the hardest hit....   Source: UC Berkeley in the News 4:49:11 PM    comment []

Summary for week of November 10, 2003 Resources include a new report on outsourcing of U.S. jobs, NLRB publications in Spanish and Chinese, a working paper on Labor versus Capital in trade policy determination, and a new guide to key links on issues, data, and developments in U.S. industrial relations. News includes an item critical of attacks on Department of Defense workers, an item on Howard Dean's labor endorsements, an article about the hidden costs of tax-supported corporate subsidies, and an update on restoration of a vandalized labor history monument. International news items include updates on labor-related violence in India and Bangladesh, attacks on labor legislation in Australia, and the plight of jailed trade unionists in China. 3:57:04 PM    comment []

New Statistics Portal Launched for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development October, 2003 http://www.oecd.org/statistics The OECD is a good source of international country data on a wide range of subjects. Sample data sets include GDP per Capita, Standardized Unemployment Rates, Health Spending, and Employment /Population Ratio.   10:45:18 AM    comment []

Copyright 2003 Lincoln Cushing