Media clips

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• How Popular Is Hakeem Jeffries Among Democrats?

  The Economic Policy Institute‘s Ismael Cid-Martinez writes on the organization’s Working Economics blog that, “while the overall financial well-being of most adults held steady in 2025, the financial well-being of Black adults declined. These individuals were also more likely to experience layoffs, leaving a higher share of Black adults and their families with increased fear of finding or keeping a job in 2025.”

  New Republic August 10, 2026
• Connecticut’s minimum wage to increase by 54 cents in 2027

  In the U.S., about 62 million workers, equal to 43% of the total, make less than $25 per hour, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute.

  CT Insider August 10, 2026
• Workers Would Get Major Overtime Pay Bump Under Proposed Bill

  Millions of American workers would see significantly larger paychecks for working extra hours under a new bill before Congress.

  Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, has introduced the Double the Wage for Overtime Act of 2026, which would increase the federal overtime pay rate from the current “time-and-a-half” standard to double a worker’s regular hourly wage for all hours worked beyond 40 in a week.

  …

  The legislation is backed by many of the nation’s largest unions, including the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, Service Employees International Union, National Nurses United and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

  Many non-labor organizations and advocacy groups have endorsed the proposal as well, including the Economic Policy Institute, National Urban League, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and Patriotic Millionaires.

  Newsweek August 10, 2026
• Map Shows ICE Deportation Costs in Every US County

  A new report suggests the money spent on deportations across the United States could be spent on funding over 925,000 schoolteachers or pay for over 5 million veterans’ medical care.

  The findings from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) showed federal tax dollars being spent down to the state and county levels, as the Trump administration has drastically ramped up immigration enforcement over the past 18 months with the goal of mass deportations.

  …

  “The Trump administration’s immigration policy is not just inhumane, it is also a huge waste of public resources,” Heidi Shierholz, president of EPI, said in a statement accompanying the release of the calculator. “Every dollar spent on mass deportations is a dollar not spent on critical investments like education, health care, and affordable housing.”

  Newsweek August 10, 2026
• Trump deportations cost taxpayers $2,358 each

  American taxpayers would pay about $2,358 each for President Trump’s mass deportation push, according to a new calculator tool from the Economic Policy Institute.

  By the numbers: EPI estimates the $268.9 billion projected for deportations could alternatively fund more than 118 million additional SNAP recipients over the remaining 2.5 years of the Trump administration, based on National Priorities Project data.

  • Alternatively, nearly 12 million additional people could receive Medicaid.
  • Or more than 9.7 million households could gain access to low-cost public housing.

  What they’re saying: “I don’t think people realize how much money is being spent on these mass deportations,” Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center and research associate at EPI, tells Axios.

  Axios August 10, 2026
• Why Louisiana, like other states, is experiencing a shortage of bus drivers

  As of November 2025, there were 9.5% fewer school bus drivers in the U.S. than in September 2019, according to Economic Policy Institute.

  One of the key issues perpetuating bus driver shortages is low pay, with the median school bus driver earning 43% less than the median weekly wage for all workers and weekly earnings for bus drivers declining 2.8% since 2019, says the Economic Policy Institute.

  Shreveport Times August 10, 2026
• Dropping it low in the library

  We all know D.C. is an expensive place to live. But a new report by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute highlights the disproportionate racial impact of this ongoing economic crisis, finding that three out of five Black residents can’t afford to live here. The analysis reveals that more than 60% of Black households in the city make less than what the Economic Policy Institute considers an “adequate” standard of living for the District. What kind of salary would be adequate? Based on these calculations, a family with one adult and one child would need to earn $125,468 to cover housing, childcare and other essentials.

  City Cast DC August 10, 2026
• Construction job openings rise as overall job openings soften slightly

  Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said the number of job openings softened slightly in June but has generally been rising over the year.

  Gould said in a social media breakdown of the JOLTS report that the hires rate ticked up slightly in June but “remains on par with much weaker labor market conditions.”

  It’s difficult for unemployed workers to break into the labor market, she said.

  Sinclair Broadcast Group August 10, 2026
• Black adults are in worst financial position in a decade under Trump’s economy, new study shows

  According to a new report published by the Economic Policy Institute, Black Americans say they are in the worst financial position in a decade. The think tank cites an analysis of a Federal Reserve Board of Governors survey that tracks Americans’ economic sentiment. The latest Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking shows an increase in the number of Black adults who worry about finding or keeping a job, and a decrease in those who say they are doing okay or living comfortably.

  “The latest SHED survey also shows that the harm caused by the administration’s economic chaos has not affected all people equally,” says the report authored by Ismael Cid-Martinez, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE).

  Thegrio.com August 10, 2026
• The Right Way to Balance Trade

  As critics at the time predicted, the U.S. trade deficit exploded, reaching a high of $960 billion in 2022. This deficit contributed to the shuttering of 70,000 American factories from the mid-1990s to 2023 and the loss of at least five million manufacturing jobs between China’s admission to the WTO in 2001 and 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Foreign Affairs August 10, 2026