- A recent Economic Policy Institute analysis found that Trump’s deportation plans could cut 115,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, affecting both immigrants and U.S.-born workers.
Axios Pittsburgh
September 2, 2025
More recently, President Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the agency announced dismal nonfarm payroll numbers for May, June, and July. He claimed without evidence the data was rigged as part of a politically motivated attack. The decision to fire McEntarfer without clear cause may undermine confidence in future economic data, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Motley Fool
September 2, 2025
Maggie takes a hard look at the controversial “Big Brutal Bill” and its devastating impact on American workers, with a special focus on Wisconsin’s manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Joined by Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute and Aurelia Glass from the Center for American Progress, Maggie unpacks how the bill slashes Medicaid, food assistance, and labor protections — all to benefit billionaires.
Civic Media
September 2, 2025
“The president’s belief that the BLS commissioner personally ‘produced’ the jobs numbers is preposterous and shows a complete misunderstanding of how government statistical agencies operate,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement.
Ohio Capital Journal
September 2, 2025
“The way that we’re doing it is creating chaos and uncertainty,” said Adam Hersh, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “This is not good for business. It’s not good for workers either. We’re going to slow economic growth, and we’re not ultimately going to solve the problems that we have.”
Hearst TV
September 2, 2025
Chad Warmington, the State Chamber’s president and chief executive, warned that the proposal would kill jobs, although since 2009, 10 states have raised their minimum wage through the ballot initiative process, including Colorado, Missouri and Arkansas, and according to the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute, none of these states have experienced adverse economic consequences.
The Oklahoman
September 2, 2025
“The experience of workplace violence is being felt most acutely by workers who already are in occupations where their wages have been suppressed,” said Jennifer Sherer, director of the State Worker Power Initiative at the Economic Policy Institute.
The push to address violence on the job appears to be strongest among service and care workers — and especially health care workers. Most of those jobs were not protected by wage and hour laws until the 1960s. In 2021-22, those workers experienced 86% of workplace injuries by another person, according to a Capital & Main analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
“Unionization in those sectors, I think it’s more important than almost any other,” said Sherer.
Capital & Main
September 2, 2025
Sebastian Martinez Hickey, a state economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, said there are currently around 650,000 workers in Ohio who earn less than $15 an hour, representing about 13% of Ohio’s total workforce. Hickey said that according to EPI’s Family Budget Calculator, a living wage in Ohio ranges from $18 in Clark County to $24.56 an hour in Delaware County.
“This proposal will be phased in over time and you would expect it to impact fewer workers, because there’s going to be organic wage growth in the intervening years,” Hickey explained. “That being said, a $15 an hour minimum wage in Ohio is pretty modest, especially if you compare it to the cost of living in many areas of the state.”
Hickey said boosting the minimum wage creates significant benefits for low-wage employees without negatively impacting employment. In addition, low-wage workers tend to spend most of their money locally, providing a boost to local economies, Hickey explained.
While Hickey explained raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029 would represent a significant improvement for working Ohioans’ bottom lines, Hickey said it is not the “silver bullet” to resolving the cost-of-living crisis that Ohioans are facing and any increase in the minimum wage needs to come alongside policies to reduce the cost of living.
“You also need smart policy decisions in terms of housing and other major costs families face such as health care and child care,” said Hickey. “You can’t fix it all with the minimum wage, but it’s a really powerful policy. Right now, when you have a low minimum wage, you’re leaving money on the table that you could be helping low wage workers with.”
Athens Messenger (Ohio)
September 2, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, workers covered by a union contract earn 12.8 percent more, on average, than workers in a non-unionized workplace, and in Florida, the vast majority lack union representation. Researchers also say, however, that unions offer the benefit of helping all workers, regardless of whether they’re unionized or not, by setting higher standards that nonunion employers will need to similarly meet in order to attract and retain employees.
Orlando Weekly
September 2, 2025
But critics paint a different picture, with Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz calling it “one of the most destructive economic bills in generations” while saying it “will gut Medicaid, slash food aid for families, and shutter rural hospitals” to pay for tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Investopedia
September 2, 2025