WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

If an emergency federal program is not renewed by the end of the year, thousands will lose unemployment benefits.

Chicagoan Ron Lofton watched blacks move up the ladder but get less-prominent titles than their white peers. So he decided to become his own boss.

Zeke Vanderhoek figured that since some of the top-paying jobs in the world are considered some of the most important, teachers should earn a lot. So qualified teachers at TEP can make $125,000 a year. They are also eligible for annual performance bonuses that bump up their salaries to $130,000.

 Dan Swinney worked for 13 years as a machinist. He also served as vice president of a local steel forge in Cicero, Illinois. Since then, Swinney has drawn on his experience in manufacturing to create the Center for Labor and Community Resarch.

Traditional unions struggle to re-assert their power in the historic stronghold of the American labor movement—Michigan.

Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC on economic inequality and what it means for the American dream.

Vocational training programs look to mend faulty employment pipeline by developing and matching workers’ skills with what employers are demanding.