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Employment and Unemployment

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An individual's education, age, and health status may present barriers or opportunities to employability, just as a region's economy, tax base, and number of immigrants and emigrants may affect job availability. RAND research examines the impact of a range of policies and forces—personal, regional, and global—on employment and unemployment.

Commentary

Job Openings Are at a Record High. Why Aren't People Going Back to Work?

Aug 25, 2021

The U.S. labor market had 10.1 million job openings at the end of June, but 8.7 million workers were still unemployed in July. If there are so many more openings than job seekers, why are there unemployed workers left?
Research Brief

Helping Los Angelenos Involved in the Criminal Justice System Get and Keep Jobs

Aug 16, 2021

Project imPACT is a City of Los Angeles program that helps individuals find employment after they are released from prison. Participants may also receive behavioral health and legal services. An evaluation of the program offers important lessons about its successes and challenges.

Explore Employment and Unemployment

Commentary

Can Workers' Compensation Help Businesses Reopen More Safely?

Workers' compensation typically does not cover common infectious diseases like COVID-19. But in the fight against the pandemic, state policymakers might take a fresh look at aspects of labor and business regulation that usually fade into the background and ask if modest changes hold any potential to reduce disease transmission.

Sep 9, 2020
Periodical

RAND Review: September-October 2020

Feature stories explore how Pardee RAND is helping to shape the future of public policy through its Faculty Leaders Program; the safety and sustainability of the U.S. blood supply; and how telemedicine is changing the delivery of health care.

Sep 8, 2020
Commentary

For Leisure and Hospitality, Weak Recovery Still Looks Like Recession

By most measures, the workers hardest hit by pandemic shutdowns were those in the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services. These jobs, which are still affected by government social distancing regulations, are not all likely to come back before the pandemic truly ends.

Sep 4, 2020
Commentary

Should COVID-19 Be Covered by Workers' Compensation?

Expanding workers' compensation coverage for COVID-19 could be part of a broader response to ensuring an efficient economic recovery from the pandemic. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks?

Aug 31, 2020
Commentary

Industry Mix in L.A. Area Helps Explain Recent Record Unemployment Rates

The Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area reported more than 270,000 job cuts between March and early August. Considering which industries have cut jobs may provide a window into the area's unique labor market and help explain how the area currently has among the highest unemployment in the nation.

Aug 25, 2020
Blog

Radicalization, the Gender Pay Gap, Israel-UAE Deal: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the potential for a new era of radicalization, insights into the gender pay gap, why the Israel-UAE deal doesn't merit the hype, and more.

Aug 21, 2020
Commentary

What Unemployment Statistics Obscure About Temporary Layoffs

As the broadest COVID-19 shutdowns were underway this spring, a historic number of American workers entered temporary layoff. Those temporary layoffs represent an economy put on pause. What has happened to them since then tells us if the economy can hit play again.

Aug 17, 2020
Blog

L.A.'s High Unemployment, RAND's New Research Center, Twitter: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on unemployment in the Los Angeles area, the new RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy, food consumption in the UK, and more.

Aug 14, 2020
Commentary

COVID-19 Brings Opportunity to Reassess Work Policies

As certain COVID-19 restrictions lift, and life for some begins to return to a “new normal,” employers may have the opportunity to rebuild work policies to better support those employees who want to continue working from home. This could produce well-being benefits for employees, without compromising on, and often increasing, productivity.

Aug 11, 2020
Blog

Preparing for a COVID-19 Election, Hurricane Response, North Korea: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on preparing for a COVID-19 election, how the pandemic is affecting artists, North Korea's deadly artillery, and more.

Aug 7, 2020
Commentary

L.A. Has the Nation's Highest Unemployment. For Some Groups, It's Even Worse Than That.

Los Angeles and its neighboring counties are among the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 recession. The shockingly high average unemployment rates only tell part of the story, however. For the poor and some racial and ethnic groups, the jobs picture is far worse.

Aug 6, 2020
Journal Article

Crisis Beyond the Crises: MENA's Youth Unemployment Problem

An unwavering commitment to fostering youth employment- and thus to overcome the crisis beyond the crises- seems necessary to ensure a prosperous future for the youthful MENA region, and critical to guarantee stability and security in the time to come.

Aug 5, 2020
Commentary

The Pandemic Is a Disaster for Artists

The arts as we know them are likely to be shut down for the foreseeable future and the vast majority of artists have likely lost some or all of their income. How many artists are out of work, and what could be done to help them?

Aug 4, 2020
Multimedia

The Benefits of Job Sharing

RAND associate economist Jason Ward explains how job sharing may help to reduce the economic shock of COVID-19 and prevent layoffs.

Aug 3, 2020
Multimedia

From the Community Corrections Lens

In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, Veronica Cunningham and Nicole Jarrett offer their perspectives on the next steps that policymakers, practitioners, and employers can take to equalize employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records. RAND's Dionne Barnes-Proby hosts.

Jul 29, 2020
Blog

Reopenining Schools, Affordable Housing, Unemployment: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the debate about reopening schools, how a decline in commercial real estate demand could help address the housing crisis, challenges facing the U.S. unemployment system, and more.

Jul 24, 2020
Commentary

Arts and Cultural Workers Are Especially Vulnerable to the Pandemic

Workers in the arts and cultural industries could be especially vulnerable to the economic shocks of COVID-19. As the United States reopens and decides its future, it should recognize these vulnerabilities, as well as the benefits that the arts and cultural industries offer.

Jul 23, 2020
Commentary

Is the U.S. Stuck with a Fixed Add-On for Unemployment?

When COVID-19 led to millions of Americans losing their jobs, Congress moved to increase unemployment benefits by $600 a week. What should happen when those extra benefits expire?

Jul 23, 2020
Multimedia

Practitioners’ Views on Barriers and Opportunities

In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, Joshua Miller, Toney L. Earl Jr., Tony Lewis Jr., and Andrew Morton discuss strategies for overcoming barriers and improving employment outcomes through reentry, community supervision, and employer-driven programs.

Jul 22, 2020
Blog

COVID Learning Loss, Russian Trolls, Artificial Intelligence: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on helping students recover learning losses, fighting Russian trolls, racial disparity in unemployment benefits, the race for AI leadership, and more.

Jul 17, 2020

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