Author

Casey Quinlan

Casey Quinlan

Casey Quinlan is an economy reporter for States Newsroom, based in Washington, D.C. For the past decade, they have reported on national politics and state politics, LGBTQ rights, abortion access, labor issues, education, Supreme Court news and more for publications including The American Independent, ThinkProgress, New Republic, Rewire News, SCOTUSblog, In These Times and Vox.

The U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, March 27, 2022 (Marisa Demarco/Source New Mexico)

Millions more workers would receive overtime pay under proposed Biden administration rule

By: - September 7, 2023

Salaried workers who have been ineligible for overtime pay would benefit from a proposed Biden administration regulation. The Department of Labor’s new rule would require employers compensate full-time workers in management, administrative, or other professional roles for any overtime worked if they make less than $55,068 annually. Currently, the salary threshold is $35,568. The change […]

A person walks past a "Join our team today!" sign posted at a UPS store on Feb. 2, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Job growth exceeds economists’ expectations as unemployment inches up

By: - September 3, 2023

The labor market is stable and healthy, economists and policy experts say, although the unemployment rate ticked up in the month of August. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report released Friday showed that unemployment rose to 3.8% in August from 3.5% in July. Meanwhile the economy added 187,000 jobs, above expectations of 170,000 jobs from […]

Protestors carry signs as they demonstrate against proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare outside San Francisco City Hall in 2011. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Half a million people in less than a dozen states have lost Medicaid coverage since April

By: - June 1, 2023

More than 500,000 people across 11 states have lost their Medicaid coverage since the unwinding of a policy that allowed people to stay in the program throughout the pandemic. The data, reported by the states and tracked by health policy researcher KFF, shows that of the five states providing data on people who lost Medicaid […]

A company advertises a help wanted sign on April 9, 2021, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

States see record low unemployment across the US

By: - May 25, 2023

Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in April, while 15 states saw record lows, led by […]

An officer guards the entrance to the Federal Reserve’s William McChesney Martin Building on March 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Fed’s fault-finding on bank failures could lead to stronger regulations

By: - May 8, 2023

New banking regulations proposed by federal watchdogs don’t go far enough in countering potential problems, but could help lower bank fees and calm financial markets and nerves, leading to a more stable financial system, according to some economists. The Federal Reserve, FDIC and Government Accountability Office recently released reports blaming mismanagement of risk, including overreliance […]

Customers use a gas station on April 9, 2018, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Here’s where gas prices are headed (for now) and why

By: - April 27, 2023

Higher temperatures. Higher gas prices.  Drivers across the country have seen that seasonal given play out in recent weeks. The national average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.64 on April 26, up 21 cents over the previous month, according to AAA.  The good news is that gas is 49 cents below where it […]

Houses under construction. (Getty Images)

Mortgage rates are stabilizing but that may not be enough to help house hunters

By: - April 4, 2023

Home prices are cooling off and mortgage rates fell last week, but the fallout from recent bank closures could continue to make it hard for some Americans to buy homes, economists say. Mortgage rates fell to 6.32% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, Freddie Mac data released on Thursday shows. Last fall, the 30-year fixed […]

Ironworker apprentice Natalie Bell displays her Rosie the Riveter tattoo that she describes as a symbol of strength, March 22, 2023, at the Iron Workers 172 Training Center in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for States Newsroom)

Help wanted: Women needed for U.S. chips manufacturing plan to succeed

By: - March 27, 2023

Natalie Bell was thinking about a career in art after college when a welding class and a delivery of four pizzas changed her career trajectory.  “I was taking a delivery out to a construction site and I met an ironworker who I was taking the delivery to,” said Bell, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. “I […]

An officer guards the entrance to the Federal Reserve’s William McChesney Martin Building on March 13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse differs from our last financial crisis

By: - March 14, 2023

After the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade, regional bank stocks plunged on Monday as the federal government — with the 2007-2008 financial crisis still a fresh memory for many — rushed to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system was stable. President Joe Biden told Americans that the risks taken on by failed […]

A company advertises a help wanted sign on April 9, 2021, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Powell signals higher interest rates. Here’s why Friday’s jobs report will affect Fed’s decision.

By: - March 9, 2023

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that interest rate increases could be higher and come faster if Friday’s unemployment data shows the nation’s labor market isn’t cooling off. Stock indexes fell after his comments. That’s been a familiar pattern over the past year as the federal bank has tried to combat inflation.  A […]

Supporters of extending the child tax credit attend a press briefing in December 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Economic Security Project)

Child poverty dropped to a record low last year. A new report shows how to keep it that way.

By: - March 2, 2023

The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released on Wednesday. The report by the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution’s economic policy initiative, comes as some Democrats appear ready to […]

Harvesters, a private food bank, saw the amount of food distributed increase from 54 million pounds in 2019 to 65 million in 2020. In this picture, food is distributed at a drive-in in Kansas City, Kansas. (Harvesters — The Community Food Network)

Families are taking a hit as pandemic aid ends, inflation continues

By: - February 24, 2023

Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data.  The survey is designed to collect data on household experiences during the […]