By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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Weak Job Gains May Cause Delay in Action by Fed (NYT)
Catherine Rampell reports on the September jobs report, released more then two weeks behind schedule thanks to the shutdown. The September numbers are weak, and the rest of the year's jobs reports will be impacted by the whiplash of shutdown.
The Jobs Report was Totally Blech. And it May Get Worse. (WaPo)
Neil Irwin considers what conclusions should be drawn from the September jobs report. His top two are that the Fed's decision to maintain quantitative easing looks better and better, and that sequestration is probably to blame for weak growth.
Wall Street’s Government Disconnect (The Daily Beast)
Daniel Gross asks why Wall Street reacts so frantically to every suggestion of federal or state government default, when such a thing has never happened. Only municipalities have defaulted, so why did so many companies shed bonds that were due in October?
Don’t Blame Health Law for High Part-Time Employment (WSJ)
Ben Casselman says that for all that anti-Obamacare politicians try to connect the law to rises in part-time employment, the data just isn't there. Over the past year, when the employer mandate was still expected for 2014, part-time work has stayed flat.
There Is No Evidence That Obamacare Will Make Poor Americans Less Likely to Work (The Atlantic)
Matthew O'Brien argues that Oregon's 2008 Medicaid expansion, which offered slots in the program by lottery, offers proof that obtaining health insurance won't cause people to stop working. That isn't surprising: healthcare doesn't buy groceries.
Sara Ziff’s Underage-Model Bill Gets Signed Into Law (NY Mag)
Charlotte Cowles celebrates the new law that gives underage models the protections that other child performers in New York have had for years, like education requirements. The law will be in effect before the next New York Fashion Week.
- Roosevelt Take: Roosevelt Institute Fellow Dorian Warren wrote about Sarah Ziff and the Model Alliance when they first began their labor organizing efforts.
CHART: Welfare Reform Is Leaving More In Deep Poverty (MoJo)
Stephanie Mencimer looks at a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report on TANF, which finds that monthly cash benefits have steadily lost value since 1996's welfare reform. That's happened alongside an 130% increase in families with children living in extreme poverty.