jobs

Knowing how to calculate expenses with Microsoft Excel is a marketable skill. So is being able to operate a lathe. But in recent years, employers have found they can pay for computers and robots to do such repetitive tasks. Indeed, economists predict many jobs will be automated in the coming decades (and new ones created).

Highly skilled foreigners are behind some of America’s most celebrated innovations. A new study suggests they drive down native workers’ wages, but benefit consumers overall.

Release from prison during an economic upswing may reduce the chance an offender returns to jail, a new study finds.

President Donald Trump made repealing or renegotiating trade deals a signature promise during his run for office, singling out the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere.”

Competition from China appears to be hobbling innovation in the United States, say the authors of a new study that juxtaposes import penetration and patent applications.

The issue: A company’s innovation is sometimes measured by the number of its patent applications. Patents, the idea goes, indicate spending on research and development, which is especially key in the manufacturing sector. What does it mean when patent applications fall?