Ismael Cid Martínez

We’ve been here before, and we know what comes next: White supremacy has always been used to usher in massive economic inequality We’re a little over a year into the second Trump presidency. That second term began with the establishment of “The Department of Governmental Efficiency” (DOGE), a sustained campaign to discredit and ...

We've been here before: White supremacy has always been used to usher in massive economic inequality #EconSky by @kdoc-writes.bsky.social @epi.org

Many workers have missed shifts without jobs being destroyed making it challenging to measure labor impacts with conventional sources.

We use real-time daily data from Homebase to measure impacts. Thanks to UChicago and Homebase for making the data available.
#EconSky #NumbersDay

La proporción de hispanos con empleo también aumentó al 64,2% en enero. Tanto las latinas como los latinos vieron un aumento en sus tasas de empleo (TE) a principios de 2026. La TE de los latinos aumentó al 76,1%, mientras que la de las latinas subió al 60,0%. #LatinSky #Economia #Latinos

La tasa de desempleo (TD) hispana bajó levemente al 4,7 % en enero de 2026. Esto se debió a una caída en la TD de los latinos, que pasó del 4,3% en diciembre de 2025 al 3,7% el mes pasado. En cambio, la TD de las latinas aumentó al 4.7%. #LatinSky #Economia #Latinos

Employment rates for Hispanics since December 2019. Tasa de empleo hispana desde diciembre de 2019.

The share of Hispanics with a job also increased last month to 64.2%. Both Latinas and Latinos saw their employment rates (ER) rise at the start of 2026. The Latino ER increased slightly to 76.1% while the ER of Latinas also moved up marginally to 60.0%. #JobsDay #EconSky

Hispanic unemployment rate since December 2019. Tasa de desempleo hispana desde diciembre de 2019.

The Hispanic unemployment rate (UR) fell marginally to 4.7% in January 2026. This was driven by a decline in the UR for Latinos from 4.3% in Dec 2025 to 3.7% last month. In contrast, the UR of Latinas experienced a slight uptick to 4.7%. #JobsDay #EconSky

Today's #JobsReport highlights:
- payroll job growth 130k in January, but benchmark revisions show 2025 much weaker than originally reported
- unemployment rate at 4.3%, up from 4.0% last January
- federal government continues to lose jobs
#EconSky @epi.org #NumbersDay

"The immortal words of Coretta Scott King capture the true spirit of the civil rights era and expose Trump’s hypocrisy:

'Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.'"

Six ways the Trump administration tried to erase MLK’s legacy in 2025 More than 60 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement helped generate the moral impetus and political will for U.S. lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation ...

The Trump-Vance administration attacked MLK’s legacy and more than half a century of progress toward racial and economic justice in 2025. The emboldened assertion of white supremacy in our political economy demands a renewed commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of racial and economic justice. @epi.org

A deportation plan that wreaks havoc on every level, hurting immigrant and U.S.-born workers.

Our former guest and @epi.org President @hshierholz.bsky.social is teaming up with Josh Bivens, Valerie Wilson, and Sam Sanders for a conversation about what the affordability debate gets wrong — and what actually needs to change.

🗓 Thursday, Jan 22
⏰ 3–4 PM ET
Register here: buff.ly/KJ7GHQq

The federal minimum wage is officially a poverty wage in 2025 In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (...

Last year, Sebastian Martinez Hickey and @icidmartinez.bsky.social wrote about why low-wage work fails to shelter workers from economic insecurity and poverty. Increasing the minimum wage boosts earnings and reduces poverty. 2/

The federal minimum wage remains under the poverty line for any household of any size in 2026. Annual full-time earnings at the federal minimum wage and federal poverty guidelines by household size. NOTE: Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Poverty guideline for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines for 2026

BREAKING: The federal minimum wage remains an official poverty wage in 2026. 😵

The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25/hour falls below the newly released poverty threshold for any household of any size. 1/

A woman wearing black sits on a bed. A quote by Mercedes Escoto reads: "I deserve to live well in an apartment that provides all the services I pay for." More text reads: "Mercedes Escoto said it is sometimes so cold in her Bronx apartment that she can see her breath indoors. 'I don't deserve this,' she said." Photo by Elias Williams for The New York Times.

Across New York, some renters — especially those in the city’s poorest neighborhoods – are frequently left without heat or hot water during the winter, leading them to bundle up in layers of clothing or risk fires by using space heaters. trib.al/so6w76W

Renee Nicole Good was murdered. Marimar Martinez was shot. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and jailed.

The next could be you.

What’s at stake isn’t just American democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.

This is personal — to every one of us.

Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin has died. She was 86. Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement.

Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin has died. She was 86. Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement. n.pr/4bhqaK7

Powell‘s words are clear and chilling.

The Fed can’t defend itself from the White House. The Senate and the courts will have to step up. Will they?

🚩 🚨🚨🚨 🚩
AG Bondi & POTUS are threatening the Fed with criminal indictment in order to try to force its leaders to corrupt economic policy.

Watch this.
#NumbersDay #EconSky

La proporción de hispanos con empleo en diciembre (63,9%) fue mayor que en enero, 63,6%. Pero la tasa de empleo (TE) anual no mejoró respecto a ‘24. La TE de las latinas cerró ‘25 en 59,8%, con mejor desempeño que en ‘24. La TE de los latinos cerró ‘25 en 75,9%, pero con peor desempeño que en ‘24.

La tasa de desempleo (TD) hispana cerró ‘25 (en 4,9%) como comenzó en enero (4,8%). La TD de ‘25 fue similar a la de ‘24 (5,1%). La TD de los latinos empeoró en 2025 y cerró el año ligeramente más alta (4,3%). La TD de las latinas se mantuvo en 4,5% durante 2025. #LatinSky #Economia #Latinos #Datos

Employment rate for Hispanics since December 2019. Tasa de empleo hispana desde diciembre 2019.

The share of Hispanics w/ a job was slightly higher in Dec (63.9%) than in Jan '25 (63.6%). But the 2025 employment rate (ER) didn't improve on 2024. The Latina ER did close 2025 strong (59.8%), performing better than in '24. The Latino ER closed 2025 at 75.9% but did worse than in 2024. #EconSky

Hispanic unemployment since December 2019. Tasa de desempleo hispana desde diciembre de 2019.

The Hispanic unemployment rate (UR) closed '25 (at 4.9%) nearly how it started (4.8% in Jan). The '25 UR was similar to that in '24 (5.1%). The Latino UR did worse than in '24, and closed '25 slightly higher (4.3%) than it started (4.1% in Jan). The Latina UR started & ended '25 at 4.5%. #JobsDay

Today's #JobsReport tells us the economy is decidedly weaker than a year ago:
-unemployment rate is 4.4%, up from 4.1% last Dec
-payroll employment up 50k; total gain this year only 585k compared to 2.0 million in 2024
-federal employment is down 277k since Jan, a loss of 9.2% federal jobs
#EconSky

What an achievement 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"

Today, the BLS released the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey data for November, which showed little changed across the board. Job openings and hires ticked down slightly. Hires remain depressed at rates akin to 2013.

#EconSky #JOLTS @epi.org

Billionaire-funded Trump Accounts won’t end child poverty: But they will widen structural inequities in the U.S. economy In recent months, uber-rich families and companies have pledged millions of dollars to support a new savings program for children, known as Trump Accounts. In early December, for example, Dell Founder...

Billionaires have pledged millions to the new Trump Accounts that fail to account for the scope of child poverty and inequity in the US.

This voluntary savings vehicle overlooks the root causes of these issues, framing them as the result of insufficient savings. From @icidmartinez.bsky.social
1/

A look at how Trump-era work requirements could impact people who receive public benefits The Trump administration made work requirements for low-income people receiving government assistance a priority in 2025.

SNAP benefits help workers find and keep jobs: "None of us really show up into an economy on our own." Ismael Cid-Martinez @epi.org

Increase in productivity since 1979: 87%

Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 32%

Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%.

As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.

Context you rarely hear: global stocks are up about 30% over the past year. U.S. stocks? Around 18%. That means American investors underperformed the world by about 12 percentage points, even while headlines called it a “fantastic year.”