http://mediamatters.org/tools/syndication/tag_rss/jobs_wages_unemployment This link is for use by RSS-enabled software to retrieve Media Matters items matching the term: Jobs/Wages/Unemployment en-US Copyright 2008, Media Matters for America http://mediamatters.org/items/200812010004 In recent days, <em>The Washington Times</em> and the <em>Pittsburgh Tribune-Review</em> published op-eds by members of the Heritage Foundation containing the false claim that union autoworkers earn $75 an hour in wages and benefits. In fact, according to General Motors, these claims are based not only on current workers' hourly wages and benefits, such as health care and retirement, but also retirement and health-care benefits that U.S. automakers are providing for current retirees. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812010004 Mon, 1 Dec 2008 11:01:52 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250020 Lars Larson responded to a November 22 <em>Media Matters </em>item by misrepresenting what he had said five days before about autoworkers' hourly compensation. Larson claimed on November 24, "[T]hey [Media Matters] were saying that if you count just what is being paid to the worker and to his pension and for his medical care, that it doesn't add up to $73 an hour and they're right, but that's not what I said. I said that the total cost of having that worker on the assembly line is over $73 an hour." In fact, as <em>Media Matters</em> documented, Larson falsely claimed on November 19 that American automakers are "paying $73.73 an hour to those people with salary and benefits." http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250020 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:37:40 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250011 On <em><em>Hardball</em></em>, guest host Mike Barnicle did not challenge the false claim by Republican strategist Todd Harris that union autoworkers earn "70, $75 an hour," a claim also recently made on <em>Hardball </em>by a Heritage Foundation fellow and echoed by host Chris Matthews. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250011 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:54:36 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200811240004 MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski falsely claimed that "the average Big Three automaker union worker's compensation is $73/hour -- two and a half times the average for the taxpayer being asked to bail them out." In fact, the $73 figure includes not only future retirement benefits for current workers, but also benefits paid to current retirees, according to GM. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811240004 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:58:06 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200811220004 Several media outlets have used data that combines the average cost of current wages and benefits and future benefits to falsely assert or suggest that autoworkers make $70 or more per hour. But, as analysts and some media outlets have noted, the figure includes not only future retirement benefits for current workers, but also benefits paid to current retirees. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811220004 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:45:12 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200811160005 On CBS' <em>Face the Nation</em>, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich falsely claimed that Indiana and Utah -- both governed by Republicans -- have the "lowest unemployment rates in their respective regions." However, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics records, neither Utah nor Indiana has the lowest unemployment rate in its region, and several states with lower unemployment rates are governed by Democrats. <br /> http://mediamatters.org/items/200811160005 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:36:31 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200810290010 Bill Cunningham asserted on his radio show that "people are poor in America ... not because they lack money," but "because they lack values, morals, and ethics." He also said that "unlike many countries in the world ... we have fat poor people. We don't have skinny poor people. Ours are fat and flatulent." http://mediamatters.org/items/200810290010 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:33:07 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200810280013 Bill Cunningham claimed that "[a]mong the so-called noble poor in America ... [b]irth control is not used so illegitimate children can be brought into the world, so the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government." Cunningham then added: "And then once the child is born, that is the key to financial riches in the poor communities -- white and black -- in America." http://mediamatters.org/items/200810280013 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:35:09 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200809210008 On <em>The McLaughlin Group</em>, Monica Crowley falsely claimed that "unemployment, which is starting to tick up, still remains at historical lows." In fact, every state except West Virginia has a higher unemployment rate -- some significantly higher -- than its historic low. Moreover, the current national rate of 6.1 percent is higher than when President Bush took office in January 2001, when it was 4.2 percent, and is just two-tenths of a percentage point below the highest rate of the past 10 years. http://mediamatters.org/items/200809210008 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:29:57 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200808070011 In an editorial, <em>The Washington Times</em> asserted that President Bush "had very high poll ratings (80 percent to 90 percent) throughout his first term" and went on to say that during his tenure, he "reduced unemployment to still record-levels." In fact, Bush's approval ratings peaked between 80 percent and 95 percent in September 2001 before trending downward through the end of his first term, which he finished at around 50 percent. Additionally, the unemployment rate under Bush after the 2001 recession bottomed out at 4.4 percent in March 2007 -- a higher level than when Bush took office in January 2001, when the rate was 4.2 percent. http://mediamatters.org/items/200808070011 Thu, 7 Aug 2008 19:39:50 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200807160011 In an editorial about the pay gap between male and female workers, <em>The Washington Times</em> falsely asserted that "the relevant factors that affect pay -- occupation, experience, seniority, education and hours worked -- are ignored by those citing the wage gap." The editorial also asserted that "women tend to place a higher priority on flexibility and personal fulfillment" than on higher pay. In fact, a GAO study found that a pay gap persists even when controlling for work experience, seniority, education, industry, occupation, race, marital status, and job tenure. http://mediamatters.org/items/200807160011 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:01:52 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200703090007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200703090007 Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:19:31 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200701230008 http://mediamatters.org/items/200701230008 Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:58:33 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200701100009 On his CNN program, Glenn Beck allowed the Cato Institute's James Dorn to repeat a much-circulated myth that the minimum wage increase proposal would benefit "typically your part-time ... young workers that are making minimum wage," adding that [m]ost of these workers are in families that have incomes in the middle income or even higher middle-income families." <br /> http://mediamatters.org/items/200701100009 Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:43:13 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200701090006 In his latest column, Rich Lowry wrote that "[t]he effect" of a Democratic proposal to raise the federal minimum wage "basically will be to give a small boost to the wage of teenagers working summers or after school." In fact, the Economic Policy Institute found that 71 percent of those who would be "directly affected" by the Democratic minimum-wage proposal are age 20 or over. http://mediamatters.org/items/200701090006 Tue, 9 Jan 2007 14:39:22 EST