Economic Conditions

With the midterm elections six months away, Democrats are burdened by an uneven economic recovery and a stubbornly unpopular health care law. Perhaps equally important, Barack Obama’s political standing is in some respects weaker than it was at a comparable point in the 2010 campaign, which ended with the Republicans gaining a majority in the […]

New research finds that living near where there are jobs significantly reduces the amount of time it takes unemployed jobseekers to find work, and that the effect is especially significant for blacks, women and older workers.

Two-thirds of Americans say the gap between the rich and everyone else has increased, but when asked why they cite dozens of different reasons.

At current rates of job growth, employment won't reach its pre-recession level for more than five years.

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.

One of the biggest political puzzles of 2014 is why the public remains so bearish about the economy, and in turn critical of Barack Obama’s stewardship of it, given clear signs that economic indicators are improving. An analysis by Andrew Kohut.

A plurality of Americans say defense spending should be kept at current levels.

A handful of metropolitan areas generate the bulk of U.S. economic activity.

Though unions retain much public support, the share of American workers who actually belong to one has been falling for decades and is at its lowest level since the Great Depression