Heidi Shierholz

The real value of the Bureau of Labor Statistics's budget has fallen for over a decade.

The president is proposing deep cuts alongside other attacks on the agency.

Progress requires Congress to re-establish BLS independence & support innovation & funding.
www.americanprogress.org/article/the-...

Thank you to the career federal employees, who show up to work every day and improve people's lives across the country.

New WP: We study how minimum wage increases affect poverty and food hardship in the U.S from 1981-2019. Different from recent work, we study the Supplemental Poverty Measure + two measures of food hardship, factor in cost-of-living differences, and more. www.iza.org/publications...

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

...

Consumer Expenditures 2024 Data Release to be Rescheduled Consumer Expenditures 2024 Data Release to be Rescheduled (9/19/2025)

#BLS has delayed the 2024 Consumer Expenditures Survey annual release. This is likely due to the severe understaffing in the agency.
Staff losses and hiring freeze are taking their toll.

www.bls.gov/cex/notices/...

#econsky

A Senate bill seeks to restore collective bargaining for federal workers - WTOP News A group of senators introduced legislation on Capitol Hill that’s designed to restore collective bargaining rights to a huge swath of federal employees.

Big thanks to Senator Warner and all the original cosponsors who introduced this bill to reverse the single biggest act of unionbusting in American history. Each day, we’re building momentum to rescind Trump’s bogus, illegal, unconstitutional EO.

Screenshot of text paragraph: "For the last five years, I’ve given the same answer in response to questions about any one-month increase in the Black unemployment rate. Given the relatively small sample size used to calculate the number each month, we shouldn’t make too much of a single month’s increase but focus on longer-term patterns and see if the upward trend continues over the next few months. Well, as of August 2025, the Black unemployment rate has risen for three consecutive months and now stands at 7.5%."

Economist Valerie Wilson @epi.org on "What’s behind rising unemployment for Black workers?"

www.epi.org/blog/whats-b...

Just so I'm clear:

TV host says we should kill every homeless person? No big deal

TV host says the right must "go to war" with the left? Pfft.

TV host says the government is cracking down on critics? Well, the government cracks down on him for the criticism.

Free speech, everyone.

Huge congratulations Anna, what an incredible milestone and dream realized!!

America's lowest wage workers were experiencing the fastest wage growth from 2015-2022.

Now they are experiencing the slowest wage growth and the most abrupt deceleration.

When Trump said "I am your voice," this is who he was talking to.

Lisa Cook will remain on the Fed while she fights Trump’s illegal attempt to oust her. This is a crucial victory for Fed Independence. Why it matters: www.epi.org/press/trumps...

Union rights on the line in House of Reps today and tomorrow! Rep Norcross got language into the NDAA that restores collective bargaining rights to DOD employees. Now an amendment by Rep Onder (#19) would strip that language. Pls call your rep & tell them: VOTE NO on Onder Amendment #19 to HR 3838.

Supplemental child poverty rates since 2021 by race and ethnicity

Disparities in income continue to leave families of color with children disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Black & Hispanic children remain 3 times as likely as their white peers to suffer poverty. #EconSky #NumbersDay

Some big #NumbersDay releases today—Just a reminder that the Census data are incredibly valuable. We get transparent and non-politicized data to make informed decisions about what policies are delivering economic security for working people.

Bar graph from new Census data showing that 8.0% of people lacked any form of health insurance in 2024.

About 8% of people lacked any form of health insurance in 2024. Unfortunately that rate will dramatically increase in the coming years, from 27 million to more than 40 million thanks to Republicans who cut Medicaid and ACA marketplace subsidies

The latest data out from #Census today show median earnings and median household incomes kept pace with inflation in 2024. Men's earnings rose 3.7% increasing the gender wage gap back to 2019 levels. Income grew at the top, but not the middle or bottom, reversing recent trends.
#EconSky #NumbersDay

Not really wrong -- even with these (preliminary) revisions, the labor market added 111,000 jobs per month on average in 2024, which is solid. But it is down significantly from the originally reported 168,000 jobs added per month on average.

Today’s BLS preliminary benchmark revisions are necessary for timely and accurate data—not fodder for Trump’s attacks Today’s preliminary benchmark announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals weaker job growth between March 2024 and March 2025 than when it was first reported based on survey data. T...

Fantastic explainer on today's preliminary benchmark revisions from BLS. Trump will rage—but revisions aren't “rigging.” They’re the transparent, routine process of making jobs data more accurate as more comprehensive records come in. It's not manipulation—it's science. www.epi.org/blog/todays-...

Statement from the National Association of Business Economics in light of ongoing attacks on the quality and integrity of US data and BLS staff. It is a pretty transparent effort to reduce transparency and accountability, not increase it
@nabe-econ.bsky.social
nabe.com/common/Uploa...

Trump is using DC as a punching bag and hurting the workers and families that keep this city running, says EPI President @hshierholz.bsky.social

The labor market continues to soften, according to the latest #JobsReport out this morning from the BLS. Payroll employment grew only 22,000 in August and revisions now show employment losses for June (-13,000). Over the last three months, job growth has slowed to just 29,000 on average.
#EconSky

The job market continues to slow, and it's pretty dramatic. Keeping our head above water (for now).

August jobs growth was only +22k. July revised up +6k to +79k. June was revised down by -27k to -13k. Average jobs growth over the three months = +29k.

Unemployment rose a tick to 4.3%

The economic effects of purging immigrants have been extensively studied.

Here is a very nice estimate of the job losses that US natives can expect from the current purge, leveraging the best research economists have, by @benzipperer.org and colleagues.

Background Information for Jobs Day – Sept 5 — The Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Click Background Information for Jobs Day – Sept 5 to read the entire PDF document.

Ahead of #JobsDay tomorrow, Friends of BLS published a FAQ answering pressing questions like:

Can the public trust BLS products?

What's up with the firing of Dr. McEntarfer & nomination of Dr. Antoni?

Why and how does the BLS revise jobs estimates?
#EconSky
www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

Don’t be fooled—U.S.-born workers are facing a worse labor market in 2025 It seems likely that the Trump administration will use Friday’s jobs report to continue to argue that their immigration policies are creating job market opportunities for U.S.-born workers, but this c...

Don’t be fooled—US-born workers are facing a worse labor market in 2025

Trump will probably use tomorrow's jobs report to falsely claim that he is creating jobs for US-born workers, but that's not true.

EPI's @benzipperer.org explains how Trump is misreading the data: www.epi.org/blog/dont-be...

You can read the letter here:
www.savehhs.org
The scale of public dissent from federal employees is extraordinary, even as the threats against them are unprecedented.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/your-gover...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics delivers key data about the economy, but how does BLS work?

I recently chatted w/ Steve Odland, CEO of The Conference Board to discuss why #BLS matters, its surveys, why have revisions, & how businesses & Congress can help.
www.conference-board.org/podcasts/c-s...

Unions raise wages. Tariffs don’t: Why Trump’s trade policy won’t help U.S. workers Summary Tariffs do not automatically raise wages or create good jobs. While protectionist trade policies can help preserve jobs in industries facing unfair competition, strong unions are a prerequisit...

Tariffs don't automatically raise wages or create good jobs. New @EPI research shows that w/o strong unions, tariff gains go to CEOs & shareholders—not workers. For workers to win, tariffs must be paired w/ pro-labor reforms. But Trump has declared open season on unions.

www.epi.org/publication/...