The health coverage most Americans receive is becoming harder to find. Since 2000, workers and their families have become uninsured at alarming rates: there were over 4 million more uninsured workers in 2007 than in 2000. A new EPI Briefing Paper by Elise Gould finds that employer-sponsored health insurance coverage has declined for the seventh year in a row. Between 2006 and 2007, public insurance was the only reason that more Americans did not become uninsured as coverage fell through work. This week's Snapshot is illustrated by an interactive map that shows the loss in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in all states and the District of Columbia within the under-65 population, workers, and children from 2000 to 2007.

The Economic Policy Institute today began a two-week online debate with the Cato Institute about the $700 billion financial bailout package signed into law by President Bush. This is the first in a series of pre-election debates sponsored by Google using Knol, its new interactive tool that allows readers to suggest edits and leave comments on signed articles. EPI's piece argues that the federal action was imperfect but necessary, and that vigilance is now needed to ensure that taxpayers are protected as much as possible. The success of the Knol depends on the active participation of readers, who can post comments and suggest edits to the original post. The debate will continue for two weeks.

The nation's employers continue to cut payrolls, with jobs down by 159,000 in September, the ninth consecutive month of job losses. In every period since 1948 when payrolls have declined this consistently, the economy has been in an official recession. For in-depth analysis, see EPI's Jobs Picture.

The U.S. non-oil trade deficit has displaced jobs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, adding up to 5.6 million jobs lost or displaced in 2007. This week's Economic Snapshot shows how no state is immune to the corrosive effect of the U.S. trade deficit on U.S. workers and domestic economy. A companion Briefing Paper looks closer at the growing U.S. trade deficits, state-by-state, and examines losses by industries.

The financial bailout package that Congressional leaders are wrestling over is far from ideal, but given current political realities, it might represent the best chance to stop an impending financial meltdown. If passed in its current form, vigilant oversight is needed to ensure that taxpayers are protected and Wall Street doesn't get a free ride. Meanwhile, urgent action is also needed to revive the real economy. Read EPI's latest analysis in this Policy Memo.

The national unemployment rate has risen to a five-year high of 6.1%, and many states are experiencing rates as high as 8.9%. This week's Economic Snapshot features an interactive map showing the unemployment rate of each state in August, as well as the employment gains and losses incurred by each state since the economic downturn began in December 2007.

CEO pay has emerged as a very hot topic in Washington's debate over the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Details on the meteoric rise of CEO pay in the United States, plus comparisons to workers' pay and to CEO pay in other leading economies, can be found in The State of Working America, 2008-2009. Download a PDF of the relevant section on executive pay.

The financial market meltdown is clearly threatening the U.S. economy and requires prompt action, but the proposal offered by Treasury Secretary Paulson is fundamentally flawed. In a new Policy Memo, EPI economists recommend a series of fixes that will protect taxpayers, aid workers and home owners, lay the foundation for real economic growth, and ensure that those who are bailed out do not enrich themselves further with excessive salaries and benefits.

While bad economic news continues to pile up for America's working people, the economic trends are even more disheartening for African American families. Gains made during the strong labor market of the latter 1990s business cycle have eroded, even as the economy grew significantly. On all major indicators--income, wages, employment, and poverty--African Americans lost ground between 2000 and 2007. Algernon Austin, director of EPI's Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, examines the trends and their impact in a new report: Reversal of Fortune: Economic Gains of 1990s Overturned for African Americans from 2000-07.

Since December 2006, the number of job seekers per job opening available has skyrocketed more than 60%. The number of job seekers per job opening is now firmly in recessionary territory--at a higher level than during any month of the official 2001 recession--and it shows no signs of leveling off. This week's Economic Snapshot and a companion Issue Brief look at current job openings trends, an important counterpart to the more commonly cited measures of unemployment.

Two new reports from the EPI and the Center for American Progress (CAP) take a hard look at the effectiveness of "supply-side" tax cuts for the wealthy and find they fail to spur economic growth or increase tax revenues--as claimed repeatedly by political leaders on the right. The reports are being released today at a joint EPI/CAP event examining supply side tax cuts, featuring two former White House economic advisors, Larry Summers and Jeffrey Frankel. Read EPI's Briefing Paper Tax-Cut Snake Oil and the joint EPI/CAP report Take a Walk on the Supply Side for more information. Check back later for a video of the panel discussion, which includes an examination of related polling data.

What part of the economy has seen rapid price increases and put a real squeeze on U.S. households and businesses? You'll be surprised by the answer found in this week's Snapshot.

As the kids head back to school, a new analysis shows that school buildings are less ready to receive them than in the past. Get the fact at a glance in this week's Economic Snapshot.

As he accepted the Democratic nomination Thursday night, Sen. Barack Obama forcefully outlined the failures of trickle-down economics and the need to return to an approach of shared responsibility and prosperity. His analysis echoed the work of EPI economists, who have long been tracking the negative outcomes of the on-your-own philosophy -- including growing income inequality, stagnant wages, and heightened risks for workers -- and proposing policy solutions.

Released in time for Labor Day, the advanced edition of EPI's authoritative volume The State of Working America 2008/2009 is now available. Described as the "most comprehensive independent analysis of the U.S. labor market" by the Financial Times, the 11th edition shows that the business cycle that started in 2001 will be one for the record books. For the first time on record, middle-class families are at the end of a recovery without ever having regained the ground they lost during the previous recession. Gross domestic product and historically high productivity growth should have raised paychecks up and down the income ladder, but instead the benefits of that growth have bypassed most of the people who made it possible and went to the top-most sliver. Prepared biennially since 1988, The State of Working America scrutinizes family incomes, jobs, wages, unemployment, wealth, poverty, and health care coverage, describing the economy's effect on our nation's standard of living. Visit the State of Working America Web site now and in coming months to read the executive summary, introduction, select chapters, press releases, and other related material, as well as to order your copy of the advanced and final edition (to be released by ILR/Cornell University Press in January 2009).

New data allows for a clear comparison of how median income for working-age families in the 2000s stacks up to the last economic cycle. Get the facts at a glance in this week's Snapshot.

The U.S. Census Bureau's annual release of poverty, income, and health coverage held some good news for Americans, but drilling down below the surface reveals a continuing erosion of the economy for working people. Although median household income increased slightly and the poverty rate was essentially unchanged from 2006 to 2007, incomes for working families (as opposed to retirees) actually dropped. The drop was especially significant when compared to median income in 2000, which is a better comparison because--like 2007--it was the final year of a cycle of economic growth. Given current conditions, income levels will surely decline further in 2008. The biggest surprise of the release came in the area of health care coverage. The number of uninsured dropped slightly in 2007, but the decline was due to an increase in government-sponsored coverage for children. Meanwhile, the rate of employer-based insurance coverage continued its seven-year decline.

EPI puts the upcoming Census Bureau report into proper context in this special preview. We'll provide a full analysis in two new reports, when the new data is officially released on Aug. 26.

In this week's Economic Snapshot, education expert Joydeep Roy shows that high school girls are now earning just as many math credits as boys, on average. Not only that, girls have moved out in front in advanced courses like pre-calculus and calculus.

View "Toward Shared Prosperity," a video introduction to EPI's Agenda for Shared Prosperity.