Low-wage workers saw big pay jumps after the pandemic. Get the latest from the ADP Research Institute’s Data Lab.

FEATURED POST
Image of median year-over-year pay change by income

May 2, 2024

Low-wage workers saw big pay jumps after the pandemic. High earners did even better.

The lowest earners, those people in the first or bottom quartile, had the largest percentage growth in annual pay gains over the last three years.
Read more
Filter by:

May 10, 2021

MainStreet Macro: Job Switching

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Typically, when the economic growth starts to accelerate like it is now, workers dust off their resumes and look for better options. The economy grew a vigorous 6.4% annualized in the first three months of the year, and is poised to grow by double digits in the current quarter. Yet recent data shows that even as the economy has improved, employees are reluctant to seek out new opportunities. In this week’s blog, we discuss the analysis conducted on 18 million workers to measure the financial returns to job switching.
Read more

May 3, 2021

MainStreet Macro: The Global Workforce Speaks

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

We’ve spent much of MainStreet Macro’s first four months tracking the economic recovery and unprecedented changes in employment due to the coronavirus pandemic. This week, we shift gears to hear from workers themselves about how their attitudes and lives have adjusted.
Read more

April 26, 2021

MainStreet Macro: Three lessons from history

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

This is a busy week for the economy. Not only are key members of the Federal Reserve meeting to discuss the hot topic of inflation, we’ll also get a report card on economic growth in the first quarter. What happens next for the economy is uncharted. We’ve never seen such a collision of low interest rates, massive fiscal stimulus, easy money and wealth disparity. We don’t know if the vigorous pace of growth will continue in the second half of the year, or even whether all sectors can recover if it does.
Read more

April 19, 2021

MainStreet Macro: Why can’t we just print more money?

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

This week, I have a timely and thoughtful question from a 10-year old viewer, Caleb: “Ms. Nela, could you share with us why we can’t just print more money to fix the economy?” Well, Caleb, that’s a very good question, one that’s of particular importance to Main Street right now. When it comes to printing money and fixing the economy, there are three things to know.
Read more

April 12, 2021

MainStreet Macro: Is the glass half full or half empty?

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D

We’ve seen a lot of good news on the economic front, from local jobs to global growth. Yet many Main Streeters are still living with the pandemic’s destruction to their businesses, jobs and health. This begs the question: Is the economic recovery a glass half full or half empty?
Read more

April 5, 2021

MainStreet Macro: Location, location, location (and jobs)

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Ask any real estate pro and they'll tell you there are three essentials to selling a property – location, location, location. Well, that may be changing. Location trends long in the making accelerated over the past year due to the pandemic and the newfound mobility of the workforce will have an impact on the housing market. Last month, the economy recovered 916,000 jobs, winnowing away our deficit of 8.4 million jobs, with the bulk of them in services. As we look forward to more hiring in coming months, let’s dig into how the geography of work--and life--is changing.
Read more

March 29, 2021

MainStreet Macro: What’s next for small businesses?

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Last week, the ADP Research Institute looked at how the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic affected U.S. employment one year later. During the 2020 lockdown in March and April, the U.S. lost 20 million jobs, or about 15% of total employment. This week we review what's next for small businesses.
Read more

March 23, 2021

COVID-19 Toll On US Employment: One Year Look Back

by ADPRI Team

As of March 2021, it has been one full year following the mandatory lockdowns in US economy to stop the spread of COVID-19. Here's a look at the impact on US Employment over the last year.
Read more