Manufacturing, the federal government, and professional and business services have shed jobs
Source: Economic Policy Institute Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Washington Post
August 4, 2025
Heidi Shierholz, former chief economist of the Department of Labor and now the president of the Economic Policy Institute, told the Post that firing a nonpartisan analyst for merely reporting bad news was “straight out of an autocratic playbook.”
She told the Post, “If policymakers and the public can’t trust the data — or suspect the data are being manipulated — confidence collapses and reasonable economic decision-making becomes impossible. It’s like trying to drive a car blindfolded.”
Poynter
August 4, 2025
“If policymakers and the public can’t trust the data — or suspect the data are being manipulated — confidence collapses and reasonable economic decision-making becomes impossible,” Heidi Shierholz, the president of the center-left Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist of the Labor Department, told the Post. “It’s like trying to drive a car blindfolded.”
Politico Playbook
August 4, 2025
The FT notes that economists say wages are often more volatile for the lowest-paid employees, as they typically have less bargaining power in a weak jobs market.
“It takes a tighter labor market for them to have any leverage,” said Elise Gould, a labor market expert at the Economic Policy Institute.
PYMNTS
August 4, 2025
“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,” wrote Economic Policy Institute economist Elise Gould.
New Republic
August 4, 2025
Only 8% of Ohio families can afford infant care, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Spectrum News 1
August 4, 2025
Over the past three months, U.S. job gains have averaged just 35,000.
“To me, today’s jobs report is what entering a recession looks like,” Josh Bivens, chief economist of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement.
USA Today
August 4, 2025
Trump, on the other hand, during his second term, inherited “unquestionably the strongest economy” in more than two decades, per the Economic Policy Institute, particularly because of the US economy’s rebound compared with peer nations.
Al Jazeera
August 4, 2025
For some analysts, the data suggests the economy is on the brink of a recession. “To me, today’s jobs report is what entering a recession looks like,” said Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute. “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.”
Fiscal Times
August 4, 2025
“Broad-based tariffs affirmatively shrink the tradeable goods sector of the economy (manufacturing), full stop,” says Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Tariffs make manufacturing goods (both import and domestic competitors) more expensive and so people buy fewer manufactured goods.”
Inc.
August 4, 2025