Senator Tartaglione to Discuss Pay Equality, Minimum Wage During Saturday TV Appearance

Senator Tartaglione will discuss the Women Supporting Working Women campaign and her efforts to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage during an appearance on PHL 17’s In Focus community affairs program on Saturday morning, March 27th.

Broadcast time is 6:30 a.m. The senator’s segment will also be posted on the PHL 17 website for on-demand viewing.

During a prerecorded interview with host Jennifer Lewis-Hall, Senator Tartaglione explained that women in the General Assembly and in Pennsylvania’s executive branch have united to create Women Supporting Working Women.

Like Senator Tartaglione, Representative Patty Kim has introduced legislation to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.

“The mission of this campaign is to promote gender equality in the workplace, particularly wage equality for women,” the senator said. “Raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time in more than a dozen years would help women achieve wage equality with men because our low-wage workforce is disproportionately comprised of women. It would also help Pennsylvania women achieve wage equality with workers in other states where the minimum wage has already been raised.”

29 states, including all of Pennsylvania’s six immediate neighbors, have raised their minimum wages above the federal rate of $7.25 an hour. The federal wage floor remains in effect in the Commonwealth.

Senator Tartaglione has introduced Senate Bill 12, which would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $12 this year and to $15 by 2027, after which the rate would be adjusted annually based on the consumer price index. About 1.1 million Pennsylvania workers would benefit directly from pay increases, 60% of whom are women.

Senator Tartaglione encouraged viewers to visit www.PayPAWomen.com to learn more about the Women Supporting Working Women campaign, sign up for updates, share their personal stories, and contact their state legislators to ask their support for raising the minimum wage.

Biden to Visit Pittsburgh Touting Multitrillion-Dollar Infrastructure Plan, Tax Hikes for Wealthy

President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on March 31st, when he is expected to unveil a comprehensive infrastructure and climate plan.

The Post-Gazette reported that the White House has yet to announce the president’s itinerary. It will be his first visit to Western PA since his inauguration and second visit to his home state, following a March 16th stop in Delaware County, where he touted the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package – the American Rescue Plan – that Congress had adopted along party lines days earlier.

U.S. News & World Report noted that the president has chosen “a traditionally industrial city as the backdrop for his pitch for another multitrillion-dollar government spending package.” The Hill reported that the plan “could cost as much as $4 trillion” and that Biden chose “union-friendly Pittsburgh” to unveil it.

The plan “would address inequities, create jobs, and fund education programs like universal pre-kindergarten and tuition-free community college,” U.S. News wrote, placing the price tag closer to $3 trillion.

“While it might be revealing that Biden is kicking off his infrastructure pitch in a blue-collar city like Pittsburgh, the plan is expected to contain a multi-faceted approach beyond just building and restoring bridges, highways, and roads,” U.S. News wrote. “It is reported to also include funding for clean energy, electric vehicle charging stations, and other climate change solutions.”

The Washington Post reported that, to pay for the plan, the administration is likely to propose tax increases on wealthy Americans and corporations, as well as investment income, which would rankle GOP members of the closely divided Congress.

“The centerpiece of the tax increases would probably be a higher corporate tax rate – reversing part of President Donald Trump’s steep corporate tax cut in 2017 – as well as higher levies on investment income and a higher top marginal tax rate,” the Post wrote.

Congress Extends Paycheck Protection Program Helping Small Businesses to Keep Employees on Job

Both chambers of Congress have voted overwhelmingly to renew the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which was scheduled to expire on March 31st.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of small businesses will have two extra months to apply for forgivable loans that will help them pay employees and stay solvent during the COVID pandemic.

The U.S. Senate voted, 92-7, in favor of the extension on March 25th after defeating a series of amendments offered by Republican members seeking to restrict how the Small Business Administration opts to distribute the funding. The U.S. House adopted the same bill, 415-3, earlier this month.

In addition to extending the application deadline to the end of May, the legislation extends the review period for applications until the end of June. The bill is being sent to the White House for the president’s consideration.

“The popular program has issued 7.5 million loans totaling $687 billion to small businesses during the last year, according to data from the Small Business Administration,” Roll Call reported. “… The program was established to help small businesses cope with the COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in March 2020. It was designed to help keep workers on the payroll despite being forced to close or reduce business to contain the coronavirus.”

The SBA offers businesses step-by-step instructions on how to apply. Applicants are first matched with a lender in their area and can search for one via the SBA website. Even businesses that have previously borrowed PPP money can apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan. Conditions for PPP loan forgiveness are also detailed by the SBA.

The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that from the start of the latest round of loans in January until March 21st, Pennsylvania businesses had received 89,656 loans valued at about $7.5 billion, ranking the state 7th highest nationally by loans and 6th by dollar value.

“During the past two weeks, approvals rose 22% or $1 billion in Pennsylvania alone,” the Business Times wrote.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Community and Economic Development provides guidance on several programs that benefit businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Decades After Equal Pay Act, Women Still Make Less Than Men for the Same Work

March 24th was Equal Pay Day in the United States, a date chosen to symbolize how American women are paid 18% less than men, on average, and how a typical woman must work almost 15 months to earn the same amount of money that a typical man earned in the prior calendar year.

Senator Tartaglione and several of her Senate Democratic colleagues delivered remarks in the Pennsylvania Senate to raise public awareness of the chronic gender wage gap in the U.S. and in Pennsylvania.

“Fifty-eight years after the federal Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women are still earning less than men for doing the same exact work,” Senator Tartaglione said. “They have the same skills, qualifications, and experience, yet they are being paid differently.”

The senator has introduced legislation, Senate Bill 186, that would make it illegal in Pennsylvania to discriminate based on rate of pay. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee.

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Equal Pay Day and welcomed U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team players to Washington. One of those players, two-time World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, testified at a Congressional hearing that she and her teammates continue to be paid less than the men’s national team players, although the men didn’t even qualify for the last World Cup – which is the top international showcase for their sport.

“One cannot simply outperform inequality,” Rapinoe said. “Or be excellent enough to escape discrimination.”

Based on median wages, U.S. women earn just 82 cents for every dollar that men earn. That adds up to an average difference of $406,000 in a woman’s lifetime, CNN reported. In Pennsylvania, the gap is wider – about 80 cents on the dollar.

Equal Pay Day is much later in the year for women of color. Nationally, Black women earn 63 cents, Native American women 60 cents, and Latina women 55 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make.

NBC News highlighted ways that corporate executives could help to close the gender wage gap. They could recognize and correct their unconscious bias in hiring and awarding promotions and raises; monitor that leadership positions are equitably filled; audit payroll to ensure that base earnings and bonuses are distributed equitably; award more high-profile duties to women; and hold human resources departments accountable for monitoring and reporting on gender equality.

Nation’s New Unemployment Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since Before Pandemic

The nation’s first-time unemployment claims have declined to their lowest level in more than a year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s latest weekly claims report.

For the week ending March 20th, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 684,000, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 781,000 (which was revised upward from the advance figure of 770,000). It is also the lowest weekly total recorded since March 14, 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a new claims total of 735,000, CNBC reported.

The Department further stated in its weekly news release that the four-week moving average of new claims was 736,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

Meanwhile, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7% for the week ending March 13th, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The new rate reflected a weekly decrease of 264,000 individuals collecting unemployment benefits, and total unemployment of 3,870,000. The new four-week moving average of total unemployment was 4,120,750, a decrease of 137,250 from the prior week’s revised average.

In addition to the new claims for traditional unemployment benefits, there were 241,745 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in the week ending March 20th.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 6th was 18,952,795, according to the Department, an increase of 733,862 from the previous week. There were 2,006,387 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

February 2021 PA Jobs Update

Pennsylvania’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate saw no change over the month in February 2021, remaining at 7.3%. The national rate in February 2021 stood at 6.2%. Following a decline after earlier stages of the pandemic, PA’s unemployment rate is up 0.3% since October 2020. However, PA’s rate in February 2021 still stood 8.9% lower than its record high in the seasonally adjusted series of 16.2% in April 2020 (dating back to 1976). Between February and April 2020, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose 11.2% (from 5.0% to 16.2%).

This and the other changes to data noted in this update reflect the evolution of Pennsylvania’s employment situation through the coronavirus pandemic. Over the month, unemployment rolls rose by 5,610 individuals, raising total unemployment to 462,780. Since October 2020, unemployment rolls have risen by 18,438, but are down 560,255 as of February 2021 from a series-record high of 1,023,035 in April 2020 (with growth of 698,985 between February and April 2020). However, it should be noted that estimates for most states in the household survey (measuring unemployment and employment; see *footnote below) were again affected by misclassification from respondents in February 2021 (i.e. workers were not properly classified as unemployed while on temporary layoff).

As of February 2021, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate stood 2.3% higher than its level of 5.0% in February 2020, with total unemployment standing 138,730 above its total of 324,050 individuals in February 2020. For context, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate had declined 0.5% over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020, with total unemployment down by 28,827. State unemployment statistics for the month are as follows:

• Total Unemployment – 462,780
• Change Over Month –    UP    5,610
• Change Over Year –    UP    138,730
• Change Over Gov. Wolf to Date –    UP    109,903
• Rate Change Over Month – No Change     
• Rate Change Over Year –    UP    2.3%
• Rate Change Over Gov. Wolf to Date –    UP    1.8%

As indicated above, total unemployment’s rounded percentage of the labor force, or unemployment rate, saw no change over the month (rate = unemployment / labor force). The labor force is the number of employed individuals combined with the number of unemployed individuals actively searching for work. Labor force growth can be a sign of a strengthening economy from more people working and/or more individuals searching for jobs. Following four consecutive monthly declines, PA’s labor force grew by 35,596 individuals in February 2021, a combination of total employment* rising by 29,986 and unemployment up by 5,610 as noted above. The increase raised PA’s total labor force to 6,330,147, which is 77,677 higher (unemployment -175,615 & employment +253,292) than its pandemic-period low of 6,252,470 in August 2020.

As of February 2021, PA’s labor force was down by 198,351 individuals (unemployment +138,730 & employment -337,081) from its level of 6,528,498 in February 2020, near the series-record high of 6,533,827 in December 2019. For context, PA’s labor force had grown by 129,087 individuals (unemployment -28,827 & employment +157,914) over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020. State labor force statistics for the month are as follows: 

• Total Labor Force – 6,330,147
• Change Over Month –    UP    35,596
• Change Over Year –    DOWN    198,351
• Change Over Gov. Wolf to Date –    DOWN    69,264

Non-farm* employment grew for a second consecutive month in February 2021, up by 16,600, raising total non-farm jobs to 5,656,700. Since April 2020, non-farm jobs have grown in every month except for December 2020. Since hitting a series-record low (dating back to 1990) of 4,962,900 during the pandemic in April 2020 (following a loss of 1,129,700 between February and April 2020), non-farm jobs have grown by 693,800.
As of February 2021, non-farm jobs stood 435,900 lower than their level of 6,092,600 in February 2020, near the series record high of 6,093,100 in January 2020 (please see the attached spreadsheet for comparison to other states for change in non-farm employment from February 2020 to February 2021). For context, non-farm employment had grown by 278,700 over both of Governor Wolf’s terms as of February 2020. State non-farm employment statistics for the month are as follows: 

• Total Non-Farm Employment – 5,656,700
• Change Over Month –    UP    16,600
• Change Over Year –    DOWN    435,900
• Change Over Gov. Wolf to Date –    DOWN    157,200

*Total employment for labor force provided by U.S. Census Household survey. The separate BLS Establishment survey measures non-farm jobs only.

COVID-19 Job Impact (February 2020 to February 2021)

(Ranked by non-farm % job change, seasonally adjusted; Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Figures in thousands.)