Sylvia Allegretto, labor economist, Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics

Sylvia Allegretto is a labor economist and deputy chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, which is housed at UC Berkeley's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is also a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. Allegretto has co-authored several editions of The State of Working America and most recently authored The State of Working America’s Wealth, 2011. Her research interests include long-term unemployment, teacher pay, public employee compensation, low-wage labor markets, inequality, minimum wages and sub-minimum wages received by tipped workers. Allegretto closely tracks the economy with particular interest in typical workers and how they are faring. She is frequently called upon by media outlets to provide commentary and contextualize economic data and trends.