Amy M. Traub
@amymtraub.bsky.social
Research for a more just and equitable economy. Currently focused on unemployment insurance policy.
Pinned
New research from NELP and #The75Million reveals:
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
Why Women Need a Stronger Unemployment Insurance System - National Employment Law Project
States and the federal government must act to improve Unemployment Insurance systems that fall far short for working women.
bit.ly
My latest research looks at how the unemployment insurance system systematically disadvantages women who are out of work -- and offers practical policy recommendations for states and the federal government.
👇
👇
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
The rule of law can’t survive this
February 15, 2026 at 5:04 PM
The rule of law can’t survive this
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
“The numbers tell a painful story. The impact on journalists of color is staggering and devastating,” the Post Guild said in its statement on Friday. “We cannot ignore what this means for equity, representation, and the future of this organization.”
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/wash...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/wash...
Washington Post layoffs disproportionately affected union members of color, preliminary Guild data shows
"We cannot ignore what this means for equity, representation, and the future of this organization."
www.niemanlab.org
February 14, 2026 at 2:42 PM
“The numbers tell a painful story. The impact on journalists of color is staggering and devastating,” the Post Guild said in its statement on Friday. “We cannot ignore what this means for equity, representation, and the future of this organization.”
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/wash...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/wash...
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
My latest research looks at how the unemployment insurance system systematically disadvantages women who are out of work -- and offers practical policy recommendations for states and the federal government.
👇
👇
New research from NELP and #The75Million reveals:
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
Why Women Need a Stronger Unemployment Insurance System - National Employment Law Project
States and the federal government must act to improve Unemployment Insurance systems that fall far short for working women.
bit.ly
February 11, 2026 at 3:53 PM
My latest research looks at how the unemployment insurance system systematically disadvantages women who are out of work -- and offers practical policy recommendations for states and the federal government.
👇
👇
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Some personal news
Scoop–CFPB just fired employee alexisgoldstein.bsky.social for allegedly disrupting &documenting a meeting a year ago between CFPB & DOGE www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
CFPB Fires Employee Over a Confrontation With DOGE a Year Ago
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fired an employee for disrupting and documenting a 2025 meeting between the agency and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to emails rev...
www.bloomberg.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:10 AM
Some personal news
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
"Others say that this action is destructive. ... What is destructive is the insidious belief that the world outside your front door is to be treated with suspicion; that every passerby is a potential threat; that every neighbor is a potential enemy"
good @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social today
good @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social today
Remove Your Ring Camera With a Claw Hammer
Home and life improvement.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:53 PM
"Others say that this action is destructive. ... What is destructive is the insidious belief that the world outside your front door is to be treated with suspicion; that every passerby is a potential threat; that every neighbor is a potential enemy"
good @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social today
good @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social today
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
No one has seriously said LLMs aren’t important or that AI is categorically junk.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
February 11, 2026 at 5:53 PM
No one has seriously said LLMs aren’t important or that AI is categorically junk.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
My latest research looks at how the unemployment insurance system systematically disadvantages women who are out of work -- and offers practical policy recommendations for states and the federal government.
👇
👇
New research from NELP and #The75Million reveals:
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
✅unemployment insurance can be a lifeline for women who lose their jobs, but
❌unemployed women are less likely to receive benefits than their male counterparts
❌and bring home lower benefits when they do.
bit.ly/FixUIforWomen
Why Women Need a Stronger Unemployment Insurance System - National Employment Law Project
States and the federal government must act to improve Unemployment Insurance systems that fall far short for working women.
bit.ly
February 11, 2026 at 3:53 PM
My latest research looks at how the unemployment insurance system systematically disadvantages women who are out of work -- and offers practical policy recommendations for states and the federal government.
👇
👇
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
It’s #JobsDay – In January, the unemployment rate inched down to 4.3%.
Among women workers, the #unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to 3.6% in January 2025.
When women lose their jobs, what can they expect from the unemployment insurance system? Read our analysis: bit.ly/JanJobs2026
Among women workers, the #unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to 3.6% in January 2025.
When women lose their jobs, what can they expect from the unemployment insurance system? Read our analysis: bit.ly/JanJobs2026
January Jobs Report: Unemployed Women Struggle Amid Labor Market Anxiety - National Employment Law Project
Among women workers 20 years and over, the unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to 3.6% in January 2025.
bit.ly
February 11, 2026 at 2:20 PM
It’s #JobsDay – In January, the unemployment rate inched down to 4.3%.
Among women workers, the #unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to 3.6% in January 2025.
When women lose their jobs, what can they expect from the unemployment insurance system? Read our analysis: bit.ly/JanJobs2026
Among women workers, the #unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to 3.6% in January 2025.
When women lose their jobs, what can they expect from the unemployment insurance system? Read our analysis: bit.ly/JanJobs2026
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.
February 11, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
As we think about the safety net we might need to deal with job displacement risk, UI reform will be super important.
@alixgouldwerth.bsky.social and I have a new piece about our research on one perverse aspect of the UI system: its reliance on employer taxes that rise with benefit claims. 1/
@alixgouldwerth.bsky.social and I have a new piece about our research on one perverse aspect of the UI system: its reliance on employer taxes that rise with benefit claims. 1/
New from @awhf.bsky.social & @alixgouldwerth.bsky.social
at Can We Still Govern?
Did you know that your former employers can contest your unemployment benefits? They have a strong incentive to do so, and private companies like Equifax are helping them. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/why-your-b...
at Can We Still Govern?
Did you know that your former employers can contest your unemployment benefits? They have a strong incentive to do so, and private companies like Equifax are helping them. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/why-your-b...
Why Your Boss Can Block Your Unemployment Benefits
And what it means for worker wellbeing and access to the safety net
donmoynihan.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:20 PM
As we think about the safety net we might need to deal with job displacement risk, UI reform will be super important.
@alixgouldwerth.bsky.social and I have a new piece about our research on one perverse aspect of the UI system: its reliance on employer taxes that rise with benefit claims. 1/
@alixgouldwerth.bsky.social and I have a new piece about our research on one perverse aspect of the UI system: its reliance on employer taxes that rise with benefit claims. 1/
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Remember last week how Dr. Oz called AI the best solution for rural healthcare shortages?
Well, a new study finds that when patients turn to chatbots for health advice, they end up taking the wrong steps and getting the wrong diagnosis more than half the time.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Well, a new study finds that when patients turn to chatbots for health advice, they end up taking the wrong steps and getting the wrong diagnosis more than half the time.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Health Advice From A.I. Chatbots Is Frequently Wrong, Study Shows
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Remember last week how Dr. Oz called AI the best solution for rural healthcare shortages?
Well, a new study finds that when patients turn to chatbots for health advice, they end up taking the wrong steps and getting the wrong diagnosis more than half the time.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Well, a new study finds that when patients turn to chatbots for health advice, they end up taking the wrong steps and getting the wrong diagnosis more than half the time.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Seeing fieldworkers produce their own histories, knowledge, narratives, and generally assert their power and voice over the world has been sugarcane plantation owners' greatest fear.
February 9, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Seeing fieldworkers produce their own histories, knowledge, narratives, and generally assert their power and voice over the world has been sugarcane plantation owners' greatest fear.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Imagine believing it's "strategic" to avoid calling out racism because that will somehow get you across some median voter line while never realizing it will shift the entire cultural and electoral reality toward a place where racism is socially accepted and even rewarded.
February 8, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Imagine believing it's "strategic" to avoid calling out racism because that will somehow get you across some median voter line while never realizing it will shift the entire cultural and electoral reality toward a place where racism is socially accepted and even rewarded.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
The DHS worker in this part of the story presumably doesn't carry a weapon or wear paramilitary gear. Yet they willingly play their role in moving along the horror.
Metry and her husband of 4 years go to DHS to get their I-130 in motion. "Good news" a DHS employee told them, the form to start her naturalization was approved.
DHS employee asks the husband to follow him through a secure door. When it locks behind him, ICE detains his wife to deport her.
DHS employee asks the husband to follow him through a secure door. When it locks behind him, ICE detains his wife to deport her.
EXCLUSIVE: Terez Metry was 13 when her family fled to Tennessee from Egypt in 2011. Then, they left her behind. She only recently discovered she had an order of removal from 2011. But she was following the legal path to citizenship. On Monday, at a routine DHS meeting, Metry was detained.
February 7, 2026 at 3:04 AM
The DHS worker in this part of the story presumably doesn't carry a weapon or wear paramilitary gear. Yet they willingly play their role in moving along the horror.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
it's not just that Mamdani is charming af (he is), it's that he is normalizing the idea that children are full members of society that we all share a collective responsibility for
From @acyn.bsky.social (posted on X)
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
February 6, 2026 at 5:19 PM
it's not just that Mamdani is charming af (he is), it's that he is normalizing the idea that children are full members of society that we all share a collective responsibility for
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:37 PM
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
The @uaw.org has won a tentative agreement from VW nearly two years after workers voted to unionize in Chattanooga.
Over 3,000 workers will get:
- A 20% raise
- Better healthcare
- A bonus of about $6,550 per worker upon ratification
And much more.
Over 3,000 workers will get:
- A 20% raise
- Better healthcare
- A bonus of about $6,550 per worker upon ratification
And much more.
February 5, 2026 at 2:53 PM
The @uaw.org has won a tentative agreement from VW nearly two years after workers voted to unionize in Chattanooga.
Over 3,000 workers will get:
- A 20% raise
- Better healthcare
- A bonus of about $6,550 per worker upon ratification
And much more.
Over 3,000 workers will get:
- A 20% raise
- Better healthcare
- A bonus of about $6,550 per worker upon ratification
And much more.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Today, the BLS released the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey data for December. Highlights:
- job openings fell in sharply in December, down 966k over the year
- hires ticked up slightly, but remain depressed at levels similar to 2013
- quits and layoffs unchanged
#NumbersDay #EconSky
- job openings fell in sharply in December, down 966k over the year
- hires ticked up slightly, but remain depressed at levels similar to 2013
- quits and layoffs unchanged
#NumbersDay #EconSky
February 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Today, the BLS released the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey data for December. Highlights:
- job openings fell in sharply in December, down 966k over the year
- hires ticked up slightly, but remain depressed at levels similar to 2013
- quits and layoffs unchanged
#NumbersDay #EconSky
- job openings fell in sharply in December, down 966k over the year
- hires ticked up slightly, but remain depressed at levels similar to 2013
- quits and layoffs unchanged
#NumbersDay #EconSky
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
![…
25. This Cibola jail was horrible. It was cramped. I was chained up again.
The officers mocked
me and called me their enemy. They laughed at me. I was kept at the jail for what felt like around three hours. I wasn't given an explanation for why I was there.
26. Security
guards then put me on a bus. I think it was around January 27.
No one said
anything about where I was going. I was handcuffed. It felt like the middle of the night. It was freezing cold in the bus because the driver had the AC on. We had no jackets. The bus eventually took me back to El Paso in the carly morning of Tuesday, January 27th.
27. I was put in a cold cell where I had to sleep on the bare cement floor. Around 10 in the morning my cellmate asked to speak to an ICE officer. Three officers came into the cell so I had a chance to speak to them too. One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." She told me that if I fought my case, I would spend two to three more months here in El Paso. She offered me $2600 to self-deport. I refused. I wanted to talk to my attorney. They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota. If I hadn't managed to talk to my attorney who told me a while back that I was ordered released. I might have given up at this point and signed the self-deportation forms because the conditions were so unbearable.
…
30. When I was taken back to the detention center from the airport, after missing the flight, I overheard an ICE officer saying in English, "the judge in Minnesota wants this one back." I was put in a cold jail cell again until early next morning (January 28). But again no one had told me directly that a judge had ordered my release
…
32. When I arrived in Minneapolis, I was handed off to ICE
… I had to sign lots of papers saying that I wasn't going to be a part of any "groups." I didn't know what they meant by "groups." They never told me why I was detained](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreiccqxmfncofjqinoveiqscwale2ox5xpiqt46veqjdh3jmimkrxhq@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 AM
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Striking New York Nurses Brave Subzero Cold www.labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
Striking New York Nurses Brave Subzero Cold
Fifteen thousand New York nurses are more than three weeks into their strike for a fairer contract. Yesterday members of the New York State Nurses Association braved below-freezing temperatures to…
www.labornotes.org
February 5, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Striking New York Nurses Brave Subzero Cold www.labornotes.org/blogs/2026/0...
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
Meet the National Employment Law Project (NELP) Staff Association: A union of the workers doing the communications, policy analysis, development, legal advocacy, research, and operations work that makes NELP function.
February 3, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Meet the National Employment Law Project (NELP) Staff Association: A union of the workers doing the communications, policy analysis, development, legal advocacy, research, and operations work that makes NELP function.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
1/x 🧵
ICE has booked at least 3,800 children +
(Drawing by a 5-year-old detained in Texas with her mother. “I am 5 years old” is written at the top. Lower down, next to stick figures, are the words “let us go.” You don't have to know your Bible to hear myriad echoes here, but phew, those too.)
ICE has booked at least 3,800 children +
(Drawing by a 5-year-old detained in Texas with her mother. “I am 5 years old” is written at the top. Lower down, next to stick figures, are the words “let us go.” You don't have to know your Bible to hear myriad echoes here, but phew, those too.)
February 2, 2026 at 12:50 AM
1/x 🧵
ICE has booked at least 3,800 children +
(Drawing by a 5-year-old detained in Texas with her mother. “I am 5 years old” is written at the top. Lower down, next to stick figures, are the words “let us go.” You don't have to know your Bible to hear myriad echoes here, but phew, those too.)
ICE has booked at least 3,800 children +
(Drawing by a 5-year-old detained in Texas with her mother. “I am 5 years old” is written at the top. Lower down, next to stick figures, are the words “let us go.” You don't have to know your Bible to hear myriad echoes here, but phew, those too.)
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
In midtown, striking nurses are marching on Kathy Hochul’s office, calling out an emergency order she signed allowing traveling nurses to work in NY during the strike.
They say that move has prolonged the strike and is a handout to the hospital system.
They say that move has prolonged the strike and is a handout to the hospital system.
February 2, 2026 at 4:17 PM
In midtown, striking nurses are marching on Kathy Hochul’s office, calling out an emergency order she signed allowing traveling nurses to work in NY during the strike.
They say that move has prolonged the strike and is a handout to the hospital system.
They say that move has prolonged the strike and is a handout to the hospital system.
Reposted by Amy M. Traub
About activism, June Jordan said, “You do something, rather than nothing… You do whatever you can. You reach beyond yourself in your imagination, and in your wish for understanding, and for change. You admit the limitations of individual perspectives. You trust somebody else. You do not turn away.”
February 2, 2026 at 12:25 AM
About activism, June Jordan said, “You do something, rather than nothing… You do whatever you can. You reach beyond yourself in your imagination, and in your wish for understanding, and for change. You admit the limitations of individual perspectives. You trust somebody else. You do not turn away.”