Economic Policy Institute

Trump’s firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous Today, Trump directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he didn’t like the jobs numbers they released. This is a move straight out of an autocratic play...

Today, President Trump directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he didn’t like the jobs numbers they released. This is a move straight out of an autocratic playbook, says EPI President ‪@hshierholz.bsky.social‬
www.epi.org/press/trumps...

Graphic with a laptop showing the Federal Policy Watch homepage. Text reads: Federal Policy Watch: A daily newsletter tracking how the Trump administration, Congress, and the courts are affecting workers' quality of life; Sign up now to stay informed!"

So this is a lot *gestures at the state of our country*

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

At 63.6%, the share of Hispanics w/ a job has stayed fairly stable in 2025. But the employment rate (ER) of prime-age Hispanics fell to 78.1% in July. While the Latino ER fell slightly to 75.6%, the Latina ER climbed back to 59% last month. #EconSky #JobsDay

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

The Hispanic unemployment rate (UR) increased slightly to 5% in July. While the UR of Latinas stayed at 4.5% last month, the UR of Latinos climbed marginally to 4.2%. Large downward revisions in payrolls for May & June point to a weaker labor market than what URs suggest. #EconSky #JobsDay

To me, today's jobs report is what entering a recession looks like. Could we pull up? Sure. But if we look back and end up dating an official recession that starts 3-6 months from now, this is what it would look like today - rapid softening/deterioration in the labor market.

Big news in today's #jobs report are the revisions. The labor market is much weaker than originally reported the last two months. While payrolls grew 73k in July, May and June data were revised down a total of 258k to 19k and 14k, respectively, bringing 3-month average growth down to 35k.
#EconSky

Whoa, the jobs numbers are really bad. With the new July numbers and revisions to May/June, the avg monthly job growth of the last 3 months is 35,000. As Josh says, if we were entering a recession, this is what it would look like.

Line plot showing rising deportations from January 2025 through July 2025. The title of the plot is "Trump is deporting almost 1300 people every day" and the subtitle is "Average daily ICE removals in 2025"

Deportations continue to increase. Today's batch of ICE data shows that Trump is deporting nearly 1300 people every day.

This is about half of their stated goal: 1 million annual deportations.

Trump's increase in deportations could destroy nearly 6 million jobs. 1 in 6 construction jobs could be eliminated 1 in 7 child care jobs could be eliminated Economic Policy Institute

We deserve stable employment to lead full lives and provide for our families, but the Trump administration's deportation agenda would destroy millions of jobs for workers, no matter what we look like or where we were born.

Holding the line: State solutions to the U.S. worker rights crisis Federal worker protections are under attack Longstanding U.S. worker rights and protections are under acute threat. These include attempts to roll back standards that set a national floor for minimum ...

New @EconomicPolicy paper! It shows how states can hold the line in the face of attacks from the Trump admin and MAGA republicans in Congress—and go further to lock in core rights, strengthen enforcement, and build a future where all workers are treated with dignity.
www.epi.org/holding-the-...

Today's #UIClaims data continue to show significantly higher continued unemployment insurance claims for federal workers than this time last year, up 59% for the week ending July 12 (compared to the same week last year). Hard to ignore when the divergence in trend began.
#EconSky @epi.org

Medicaid turns 60 today.

It's a lifeline for millions of Americans, including seniors and people with disabilities.

But Republicans just voted to gut Medicaid and close hospitals + nursing homes around the country.

#CancelTrumpsMedicaidCuts

Holding the line: State solutions to the U.S. worker rights crisis Federal worker protections are under attack Longstanding U.S. worker rights and protections are under acute threat. These include attempts to roll back standards that set a national floor for minimum ...

The first set of briefs focuses on 4 key areas to protect workers:
🔹 minimum wage
🔹 overtime
🔹 child labor
🔹 preventing wage theft

Check out our recommendations for each topic: www.epi.org/holding-the-...

Holding the line: State solutions to the U.S. worker rights crisis Federal worker protections are under attack Longstanding U.S. worker rights and protections are under acute threat. These include attempts to roll back standards that set a national floor for minimum ...

Trump & corporations are attacking worker rights across the country.

But states can pick up the slack to make sure workers are still paid what they're owed & stay safe at work.

Here's what states can do to protect workers & hold the line against Trump's attacks: www.epi.org/holding-the-...

Trump’s deportation agenda will cause 6 million workers to lose their jobs—both immigrants AND US-born workers.
But how, exactly, does this work? Let's dig into it.
www.epi.org/publication/...

The real reason we tip …and why it needs to change.

“[Tipped] workers, who are disproportionately women, people of color, & immigrants, who are often living below the poverty line, are forced to rely on the kindness of strangers to pay their wages," said EPI's Nina Mast on @vox.com podcast Explain It to Me.

Listen here: www.vox.com/explain-it-t...

Although I-82 was not fully overturned, the DC City Council has once again overruled the will of its own voters and preserved a system where tipped workers receive second class treatment in one of the highest cost -of- living metro areas in the country.

The latest #JOLTS data for June 2025 show most indicators little or unchanged since May. Job openings ticked down but have been flat for most of the last year, almost exactly the level of job openings as in June 2024. Other measures continue to be a bit softer than last year.
#EconSky @epi.org

Politico Pro Headline: "Acting NLRB general counsel takes swipe at union agitators; The new memo to agency staff instructed them to deeply investigate a pro-union worker's genuine interest in a job."

The Trump NLRB wants to make it easier for employers to avoid hiring pro-labor job applicants.

It's illegal to not hire someone just for being pro-union, but new NLRB guidance is making it easier for employers to root out potential hires who might want to organize their workplaces.

What is the Empowering App-Based Workers Act? - National Employment Law Project The Empowering App-Based Workers Act would ensure transparency and accountability in app-based work.

📣 App-based #workers are demanding fair pay and #transparency. The Empowering App-Based Workers Act would:

✅ Give drivers 75% of each fare
⚖️ Guarantee equal pay for equal work
🧾 Create pay transparency

Learn more here: www.nelp.org/insights-res...

Trump’s deportation agenda will destroy millions of jobs: Both immigrants and U.S.-born workers would suffer job losses, particularly in construction and child care Deportations will eliminate millions of jobs held by immigrant and U.S.-born workers according to research on increased immigration enforcement.

"Deportations will eliminate millions of jobs held by immigrant and U.S.-born workers according to research on increased immigration enforcement." - @benzipperer.org @epi.org

Don't fall for the lump-of-labor fallacy pushed by white supremacist ideology. It's wrong.
www.epi.org/publication/...

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D.C. Council should support tipped workers by maintaining I-82: There is no evidence that the policy is harming the restaurant industry in the District The D.C. Council is debating watering down or eliminating Initiative 82 (I-82), a law passed overwhelmingly by D.C. voters in 2022 that gradually phases out the subminimum wage for tipped workers thro...

Washington, DC voters overwhelmingly voted for I-82 to provide tipped workers with vital wage gains & economic security, but the D.C. City Council is threatening to weaken or even eliminate the measure.

www.epi.org/blog/d-c-cou...

Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law with Leah and Richard Rothstein On June 7, 2023, authors Richard Rothstein and Leah Rothstein discussed their new book, Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law.   Racial segregation characterizes eve...

Rothstein's follow-up to Color of Law, Just Action, calls out the lack of serious action to reversing housing desegregation. Just Action lays out a bold policy agenda that starts at the local level to reverse decades of housing discrimination.
www.epi.org/event/just-a...

A graphic that is a screenshot of the The New York Times best seller list showing The Color of Law at number 11. The New York Times screenshot is imposed on a map background that is the cover for the Color of Law book.

ICYMI: Color of Law, the groundbreaking book on the forgotten history of housing segregation in the United States by EPI Distinguished Fellow Richard Rothstein is back on the @nytimes.com bestseller list! More here: 🔽

www.epi.org/publication/...

A text graphic with the words research, power and justice along with a picture of EPI's newsletter on a phone, which on the right side of the image. Below the words research, power and justice is the sentence sign up for EPI News to get updates on our latest research.

We believe that every working person deserves a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, and retirement security.

Do you agree? Sign up for EPI News to get updates on our latest research and analysis:
mailchi.mp/epi/irskm4lt6g

Destroying the Fed’s independence to make monetary policy decisions would be a disaster for working people During the presidential campaign, many people noted that a prospective Trump administration could trigger sustained upward pressure on inflation and interest rates if it tried to violate the Federal R...

President Trump has made escalating threats to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Destroying the Fed’s independence to make monetary policy would be a disaster for working people, says EPI's @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social: www.epi.org/blog/destroy...

Destroying the Fed’s independence to make monetary policy decisions would be a disaster for working people During the presidential campaign, many people noted that a prospective Trump administration could trigger sustained upward pressure on inflation and interest rates if it tried to violate the Federal R...

Destroying the Fed’s independence would be a disaster for working people www.epi.org/blog/destroy...

Gig workers deserve benefits like health care & retirement security, but these "portable benefits" proposals are risky plans that let employers off the hook.

If senators want to help workers, they should crack down on misclassification, strengthen collective bargaining, & pass pro-union legislation

Workers need real security and flexibility, not pro-employer portable benefits proposals On July 7, 2025, Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced a legislative package aiming to provide certain portable benefits to workers classified as independent contractors. "Porta...

Today, the Senate HELP Committee is holding a hearing on pro-employer "portable benefits" proposals.

But these bills don't give workers the real security and flexibility they need. Instead, they institutionalize a second-tier status for independent workers: www.epi.org/blog/workers...