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Employment and Labor Markets
The unemployment rate in October 2010 was 9.6 percent. In August, CBO projected a slow rebound in employment, with the rate falling to just below 9 percent by the end of 2011, and then declining more rapidly to near its long-run sustainable level of 5 percent by the end of 2014.
The 111th Congress has passed several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing employment, and several more pieces are currently under consideration. We have collected some of CBO's work on employment-related issues. You can find economic forecasts, cost estimates for proposed legislation, and analyses of policies that might affect employment, of the causes and consequences of unemployment, and of other issues concerning labor markets.
Economic Forecast
The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update
August 2010pdfadditional infoblog post
Recent Cost Estimates
S. 2989, Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2010
March 25, 2010
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on March 4, 2010
H.R. 4849, Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010
March 19, 2010pdf
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on March 17, 2010
H.R. 4592, Energy Jobs for Veterans Act
March 12, 2010pdf
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on March 10, 2010
H.R. 4213, American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010
March 10, 2010pdf
Estimate of direct spending and revenues and the pay-as-you-go impact for the bill as passed by the Senate on March 10, 2010
H.R. 2847, Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act
March 4, 2010pdf
Pay-as-you-go estimate for the amendment to the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2847
H.R. 4213, American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010
March 2, 2010pdf
Estimate of direct spending and revenues and the pay-as-you-go impact for Senate amendment 3336, as introduced by Senator Baucus as a substitute for H.R. 4213
Policies that Might Affect Employment
Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output From April 2010 Through June 2010
August 2010pdfblog post
How Policies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Affect Employment
May 5, 2010pdfblog post
Economic and Budget Issue Brief
Policies for Increasing Economic Growth and Employment in 2010 and 2011
January 2010pdfblog post
Did the 2008 Tax Rebates Stimulate Short-Term Growth?
June 10, 2009htmlpdfblog post
Economic and Budget Issue Brief
Causes and Consequences of Unemployment
Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Family Income of the Unemployed
November 17, 2010 pdfblog post
Letter to the Honorable Jim McDermott
Losing a Job During a Recession
April 22, 2010pdfblog post
Economic and Budget Issue Brief
Long-Term Unemployment
October 2007pdf
Family Income of Unemployment Insurance Recipients
March 2004htmlpdf
Related Labor Market Issues
Factors Underlying the Decline in Manufacturing Employment Since 2000
December 23, 2008htmlpdfadditional infoblog post
Economic and Budget Issue Brief
Changes in the Distribution of Workers' Annual Earnings Between 1979 and 2007
October 2009pdfadditional infoblog post
Recent Trends in the Variability of Individual Earnings and Household Income
June 2008htmlpdfblog post
Background Paper: How Slower Growth in the Labor Force Could Affect the Return on Capital
October 2009pdfblog post