Kai Ryssdal

a graph of US data center construction rising to roughly $40B from $10B in 2020

Official data released yesterday shows US data center construction hitting another record high in June, exceeding $40B annualized for the first time

That's up 28% from this time last year and up 190% since the launch of ChatGPT nearly three years ago

Larry Summers re BLS (on Twitter). "This is surely not the most serious threat to our democracy that Trump poses, but it is the one closest to what we economists do. I don’t see how serious members of the economics profession can stay in his administration." x.com/LHSummers/st...

Trump didn’t “call for” the head of the BLS to be fired. He *actually fired her. Let’s get it right, people.

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.

Economy Updates: After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Fires That Agency’s Commissioner Hours after data showed cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump said without evidence that Erika McEntarfer “rigged” the data “to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”

Firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over a bad jobs report undermines government integrity and sends a chilling message to federal employees: tell POTUS what he wants to hear or else.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07...

Spiers called it.

a timeline graph for tariffs

Finally updated the tariff calculations to incorporate the 50% copper tariffs, 40% tariff on Brazilian imports, and 5-31% tariff on imports from 94 countries that Trump has signed over the last 24 hours—overall tariff rates rise more than 2%, and are now 16% higher than pre-Trump

Wut?

If only these were normal times

Hard pass on Kevin O'Leary

Unbelievable

But entirely believable

I absolutely believe Megan’s reporting. Her source is full of it

Her term was up in January, you could spin this as either caving to pressure or trying to buy him off with a symbolic change. Either way doesn't change the current FOMC voting outcome.

*FED GOVERNOR ADRIANA KUGLER TO RESIGN EFFECTIVE AUG. 8

Right after he runs a 6:30 mile

Nonfarm Payroll Employment: Revisions between over-the-month estimates, 1979-present

For people saying these jobs numbers revisions are "unprecedented", here's a record of previous revisions back to 1979. Triple-digit downward revisions aren't common, but they've certainty happened before. www.bls.gov/web/empsit/c...

For the record, Trump had the jobs numbers yesterday afternoon.

I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under “TRUMP” despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting “Kamala” elected – How did that work out? Jerome “Too Late” Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Unquestionably the most dangerous and corrupt attack on the independence of US economic data in American history. Trump is firing the head of the BLS, a longtime civil servant confirmed 86-8 by the Senate, simply because the job numbers came in below his expectations today

This is a proxy for firing Powell, right?

August NFP preview:

Tariff collectors +500K
Sycophants +220K
Amateur-professional golfers: +700K
The Woke -334K

Okay, *now you can start to worry about data being manipulated.

Corrupt. Dangerous. Deeply deeply damaging.

Holy shit

The Silent Service says wut?

"WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations"

cpb.org/pressroom/Co...

Absolutely not. Please undiscover this promptly and then go sit in a corner and think about what you did.

The sound of a 300 million Americans face-palming (that is a Russian car).

Immigration!

It may well be that this is what a healthy labor market in the US looks like now.

From @taraelizwatson.bsky.social, @stanveuger.bsky.social
& me: www.aei.org/wp-content/u...

Labor supply growth has come to a screaming halt. This is the emp growth the US can sustain right now.

BOOCKVAR, on jobs:

“.. let's be honest here, volatile and costly trade policy has stalled decision making on the part of companies with many hitting the pause button on hiring. If I had a dollar for every earnings call where an executive mentioned 'the challenging macroeconomic environment.’”

Interestingly, the Board *does have control. Powell only gets one vote

See also: not understanding how the economy works

Huh

Jobs