By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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America's Social Safety Net is Failing Workers in the 'Gig Economy' (The Week)
Particularly in today's economy of short-term gigs, contract work, and other forms of precarious employment, Sarah Jaffe says the current system of unemployment benefits isn't cutting it.
- Roosevelt Take: Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network Operations Director Lydia Bowers looks at some of the other labor protections missing in the gig economy.
By Any Measure, The Job Market Is Getting Better (FiveThirtyEight)
No matter how he counts the unemployed, Ben Casselman finds the same pattern: the ratio of job-seekers to available jobs has dropped significantly, almost to pre-recession levels.
Graphic: Unpaid Interns Have Few Legal Rights (Bloomberg Businessweek)
In this flowchart, Josh Eidelson lays out the scant legal protections afforded interns throughout the country, with details about relevant court cases and state-by-state variations.
Yellen Resolved to Avoid Raising Rates Too Soon, Fearing Downturn (Reuters)
Howard Schneider and Jonathan Spicer report that Federal Reserve insiders say Janet Yellen is showing extreme caution on raising interest rates, because inflation is easier to fight than recessions.
Another Argument Against the Medicaid Expansion Just Got Weaker (WaPo)
Jason Millman looks at the history of Medicaid funding, and finds that states don't really have to worry about the federal government backing out of its share of expansion funding.
- Roosevelt Take: Roosevelt Institute Fellow Andrea Flynn ties refusal to expand Medicaid to the U.S.'s high and increasing maternal mortality rate.
The Jobs Added In Today’s Economy Pay A Quarter Less Than The Ones We Lost In The Recession (ThinkProgress)
Bryce Covert looks at a new report from the U.S. Council of Mayors, which shows that the jobs added since the recession pay less largely due to the sectors in which jobs were lost and regained.
Labor and Small Businesses Team up on California Franchising Law (MSNBC)
The proposed law would make it harder to terminate franchise agreements. Ned Resnikoff says labor groups hope franchisees will treat workers better with less franchisor influence and interference.
New on Next New Deal
The Inconvenient Truth About Ineqality
In his video speculation for the Next American Economy project, Lenny Mendonca says a "vested set of interests" will keep the issues raised in Piketty's Capital out of real policy debates.