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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 10h

My colleague Jill Wilson and I wrote a summary of everything that's happened to the H-1 B visa program so far in 2026. www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 13h

I've updated my 2 page overview of wage requirements for the H-2A temporary agricultural workers visa (I will need to update it again in January). www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Need some background on this issue? Here's a report I wrote: www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I have updated the "Proposed Changes in Prevailing Wages" section of my 2-page overview of prevailing wage requirements for the H-1B program, at www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I don't generally follow Sports. But I'm rooting for the woman who's older than me and still competing in international gymnastics competitions.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

One of the employee organizations at my workplace puts on an exhibit of arts and crafts by employees. I submitted a piece of needlework.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I was listening to www.nber.org/conferences/... and heard a reference to work done by my former colleague Ian Rucker, who died too young. I remember Ian.

nber.org

Innovations in Measuring Employment, Fall 2026

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I have been wanting to cite this paper for years to explain what we can learn from JOLTS that we really can't learn from any other source.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It looks like BLS just added more charts to the official set released as part of the Employment Situation! www.bls.gov/charts/emplo...

bls.gov

Civilian unemployment rate

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I wish there was a paper like this one for the Revelio data: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rpyl6...

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

For more background on this court case, I recommend reading my overview of the history of wage regulation for the H-2A temporary agricultural work visa, www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The court order cites my report on measuring wages in the agricultural sector, www.congress.gov/crs-product/..., and my calculations of legal status among agricultural workers, www.congress.gov/crs-product/....

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Now could we get someone to please empty the trash cans? They've already been installed in stations that aren't going to open for another year, people are putting trash in them and nobody is emptying them.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

(1) Take any math classes they need for graduate economic theory (2) Read economic research differently: focus more on methods and on who is doing work that interests them (3) Read and talk with economists about connecting economic theory to the particulars of empirical work (specifications, etc).

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

My most memorable Google Maps mistake was requesting directions to the "Paw-Paw tunnel" instead of the "Paw-Paw tunnel visitor parking lot," which sent us and our minivan over a narrow and barely paved maintenance road to the top of the hill above the tunnel. Less dangerous than your adventure.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The new bridge between the US and Canada appears to have a bike lane that will open this week. It goes from Michigan to a place in Canada called "Sandwich Town," which is a weirdly appropriate place name for the end of a scenic bike lane.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Child safely home from the adventure. Whew!

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

This explains why my great-great-grandmother's passport from 1912 says her proof of citizenship was her late husband's naturalization papers plus an affidavit that she was his widow.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Some years ago, I was attending an economic research conference and noticed one of the presenters was attending remotely, with a baby on her shoulder at times. A quick online search showed she was the mother of nine children. Forget about the "influencers;" I want to read a profile of that woman.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

We don't have children to keep them in the womb forever. But some days letting a fledgeling fly are harder than others.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I put together an overview of all the changes in wage regulations for the H-2A visa since the program began in the 1980s. It's at www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

As far as I know, Alan Greenspan was the only person to chair the Council of Economic Advisers to the President (Sept 1974 - Jan 1977) before earning a PhD (later in 1977).

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Fellow Maryland residents--what is going on with the rabbits this year? It feels like I can't walk down my block without spotting one or two or five. I've heard suggestions that the foxes got sick this year, so more rabbit kits survived. Any actual evidence for this?

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I wrote a CRS two page overview of what we can and cannot learn about labor markets from employer reports (thinking about the impacts of AI on labor markets). It's at www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

When this paper was presented, someone in the room said, "just don't think you can measure the impact of AI by asking the employers," and all the measurement experts laughed. I wrote a two page explanation of why not for people who aren't measurement experts. It's at www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

A nice perk of my current job is an employee chorale to sing with at lunchtime. We have a concert coming up on June 10th at noon in the Coolidge auditorium of the Jefferson building. Free admission, open to the public, etc.

Library of Congress employee chorale performing at noon on June 10th in the Coolidge auditorium.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

A few years ago, I was at a conference in Cambridge, MA and the person sitting next to me explained how he had biked from his home to DCA and then biked from BOS to the conference using a rental bicycle. (His only luggage was a small satchel)

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

As an alum, I've tried to keep tabs on what's happening at Swarthmore. It seemed Jewish community on campus declined sharply in the years after the Hillel disaffiliation. A student I knew transferred elsewhere, saying, "there was nobody on campus to have Shabbat dinner with." Now Chabad is big.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

I'd tag my colleague, but he has no online presence whatsoever.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Just published (with one of my lawyer colleagues): a two-page overview of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) of 1965: What and who it covers, what it requires, how it's enforced, and recent proposals in Congress to change it. www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

One of the audience questions at the end was about whether economists should be activists. Charles said that's not our role. But given how much of his talk focused on neighborhood segregation, I was reminded of economist Karl D. Gregory: boundarystones.weta.org/2020/06/12/b...

boundarystones.weta.org

"Belair at Bowie": Segregated Suburbia

For the developer William Levitt, the perfect neighborhood included only one type of neighbor: white. Local civil rights activists declared war.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Weber Handwerker

Ethan Mollick @emollick.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

The single most accurate science fiction author writing about AI turned out to be… Douglas Adams He wrote about AIs that work best when emotionally manipulated & that guilt you in turn. And he understood there was no upper bound on test time compute for hard problem. Also dolphin communication!

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

They predate the Roosevelt administration and the New Deal!

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Just got a notification that my January complaint about a crosswalk blocked by winter snow has now been resolved. Seriously, @marylanddot.bsky.social?

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The US military is also one of the agencies administering PEPFAR, and has been involved in international infectious disease research for over a century. For example, usamrukenya.org

usamrukenya.org

HomeA Basic Bootstrap Tab PageUsamrd-kenya

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I love the walk between Metro and the office.

Cherry and Magnolia trees in bloom outside the Supreme Court.

Cherry trees in bloom in lower Senate Park.

Flowers in bloom outside the Russell Senate office building.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

In my current role, I cannot present unpublished research. However, I am able to serve as a discussant. If you're putting together a session and you need a discussant in one of my areas of expertise, please reach out to me.

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

New H1-B and PERM wage regulation just dropped. As expected, it would raise wage requirements: www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe... Changes the administration is making to the H-1B and PERM programs (raising wage requirements) and the H-2A program (lowering wage requirements) are so different.

federalregister.gov

Public Inspection: Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States

Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States

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Elizabeth Weber Handwerker @elizwebhand.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

I attempted to summarize causal estimates of the impact of immigration enforcement on labor markets in two pages, at www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

congress.gov

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Reposted by Elizabeth Weber Handwerker

Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The Library is looking for its next Innovator in Residence! Through April 10, the Library invites technologists, artists and other creative visionaries to propose imaginative proof of concepts designed to help the public connect with digital Library materials. newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...

Graphic reads "Be the next Innovator in Residence"

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