A Goldilocks Jobs Report

March 10, 2023

And breaking down inflation in 2023.

The Roosevelt Rundown features our top stories of the week.

Roosevelt Director of Macroeconomic Analysis Mike Konczal provides expert testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Accountability Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services on March 9, 2023.

The Latest Jobs Data, and Inflation in 2023

Today’s new jobs release brings another big headline number, with 311,000 jobs added in February.

And the data shows strong trajectories on multiple fronts, as Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal tweeted today.

1. Strong job growth while wages decelerate – disinflationary.
2. Unemployment up for good reasons – more people brought into the labor force.
3. Prime-age EPOP up – finally at pre-pandemic levels.

This is a perfect jobs report. pic.twitter.com/ZnnUHFEIL1

— Mike Konczal (@mtkonczal) March 10, 2023

That inflation-related development underscores what Konczal said in testimony before the House Oversight Committee this week.

“There is still further to go and work to be done, but we are not in a situation where inflation is spiraling or becoming entrenched at very high levels,” he testified.

“This means that we can reduce inflation without compromising our strong job market.”

What States Can Do about Climate Risk

It’s increasingly clear that the climate crisis poses severe risks to our systems and collective financial security.

In a new brief, Lenore Palladino, Jordan Haedtler, and Kristina Karlsson explore one way state officials can protect their constituents and public-sector workforce from financial harm: requiring climate risk disclosure and integrating climate risk assessments into state budgeting and investment practices.

“Facilitating an energy transition will require action from federal policymakers, and ensuring that that transition is orderly and minimally disruptive to the financial system will also require action from federal financial regulators,” they write.

“However, state and local policymakers have authority over their own public pension funds, and we focus here on mapping the path forward for this group of policymakers.”

Learn more in “State Pension Funds and Climate Risk: A Roadmap for Navigating the Energy Transition.”

Introducing the 2023 Roosevelt Fellows Class

This week, Roosevelt announced its 2023 class of fellows, who will produce original analysis, alternative frameworks, and justice-oriented policy ideas about some of the most pressing issues facing our economy and democracy—from strengthening supply chains to protecting workers from surveillance technologies.

“Fellows have always played an essential role in Roosevelt’s work, developing and advocating for new ways of thinking about our economy and governance structures that have shown up in winning policies and mainstream debates,” said Suzanne Kahn, Roosevelt managing director of research and policy.

“Following a year of historic headway on progressive ideas, we are excited to build on that momentum alongside this group of innovative thinkers.”

Meet Roosevelt’s 2023 class of fellows.