Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 27d

Latest deportation data: ICE is on course to deport more than 400 thousand people in 2025.

The current deportation rate is about half of Trump's goal (1 million annual deportations).

Line graph showing average daily ICE removals in 2025 from biweekly detention reports published by ICE. The title of the figure is "Trump is deporting more than 1300 people every day"

7 14

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · 22d

NEWS: By vaccinating babies at birth, the U.S. nearly eradicated hepatitis-B in children.

Kennedy's vaccine advisory panel is expected this week to recommend delaying the shot, opening a window for kids to be infected.

Exclusive by @jackie-fortier.bsky.social

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children - KFF Health News

A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that coul...

kffhealthnews.org

63 590 1.3K

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · 29d

While changes at the median or 10th percentile were not statistically significant between 2023 and 2024, income grew 1.3% and 2.2% in real terms at the middle and bottom, respectively. However, inequality did rise because the top grew even faster (4.2% at the 90th percentile).
#EconSky #NumbersDay

2 9

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ismael Cid Martínez @icidmartinez.bsky.social · 29d

Disparities in income continue to leave families of color with children disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Black & Hispanic children remain 3 times as likely as their white peers to suffer poverty. #EconSky #NumbersDay

Supplemental child poverty rates since 2021 by race and ethnicity

1 7 7

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ismael Cid Martínez @icidmartinez.bsky.social · 29d

New Census 2024 income data show a mixed picture for families of color. Asian & Hispanic families saw their median income rise. But Black families experienced a fall. Typical Black & Hispanic households continue to earn just a fraction of their white peers' income. #EconSky #NumbersDay

Real median household income by race and ethnicity

2 9 10

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · 29d

The latest data out from #Census today show median earnings and median household incomes kept pace with inflation in 2024. Men's earnings rose 3.7% increasing the gender wage gap back to 2019 levels. Income grew at the top, but not the middle or bottom, reversing recent trends.
#EconSky #NumbersDay

2 31 54

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 29d

About 8% of people lacked any form of health insurance in 2024. Unfortunately that rate will dramatically increase in the coming years, from 27 million to more than 40 million thanks to Republicans who cut Medicaid and ACA marketplace subsidies

Bar graph from new Census data showing that 8.0% of people lacked any form of health insurance in 2024.

3 30 55

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

But frankly this is too much to ask of our civil service—they work hard enough collecting and analyzing this data, they should not also have to be activists safeguarding its integrity.

1

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

To be fair, extreme competence and professionalism of federal workers who staff the statistical agencies have thus far shielded most of the data they release from manipulation or quality-erosion.

1 1

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

There is simply no substitute for government data infrastructure. Pressure from the executive branch to alter data to fit political aims will damage a valuable public good that is critical for business decisions, policymaking, and planning by all stakeholders in the economy.

1 1 3

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

Gvt staffing cuts and politically motivated firings threaten the credibility of future data releases. See Exhibit A: www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...

Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after the release of weak jobs report

Without evidence, Trump called the data "rigged" and implied that BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer manipulated the numbers "for political purposes."

www.nbcnews.com

1 1

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

The Trump admin is trying to politicize federal statistical agencies and to manipulate the reporting of anything that seems like bad news for the economy. This erodes trust, is deeply undemocratic AND BAD.

1 1

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

Some big #NumbersDay releases today—Just a reminder that the Census data are incredibly valuable. We get transparent and non-politicized data to make informed decisions about what policies are delivering economic security for working people.

1 12 19

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · 29d

Today's preliminary revisions to March 2024-March 2025 data suggest job growth was half the pace of initial estimates

These regular, transparent steps by BLS to ensure its data are as accurate as possible are one of the hallmarks of the federal statistics infrastructure

www.epi.org/blog/todays-...

Today’s BLS preliminary benchmark revisions are necessary for timely and accurate data—not fodder for Trump’s attacks

Today’s preliminary benchmark announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals weaker job growth between March 2024 and March 2025 than when it was first reported based on survey data. These numbers are likely to anger President Trump and the White House who incorrectly view revised data as political manipulation. Trump has already lashed out at BLS, including firing the agency’s commissioner because a jobs report showed a rapidly weakening labor market. But these BLS data revisions are not corrections of mistakes. Revisions are part of the regular, transparent process to update employment counts with the most comprehensive data possible.

2 5 23

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Julia Coronado @jc-econ.bsky.social · Sep 8

Statement from the National Association of Business Economics in light of ongoing attacks on the quality and integrity of US data and BLS staff. It is a pretty transparent effort to reduce transparency and accountability, not increase it
@nabe-econ.bsky.social
nabe.com/common/Uploa...

1 33 100

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · Sep 5

Black unemp is a volatile series, but 3 months of increases denotes a trend that should be given some attention

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · Sep 5

The household survey also provides useful information about labor market health. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, it's highest since 2021. While a more volatile series, the data show sustained increases in Black unemployment over the last three months, hitting 7.5% in August.
#EconSky

4 7

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Jed Kolko @jedkolko.bsky.social · Sep 5

The sharp decline in immigration that began mid-2024 and has presumably accelerated in 2025 has not helped the native-born unemployment rate.

4 6

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Preston Mui @prestonmui.bsky.social · Sep 5

@gbenga-ajilore.bsky.social

6 36 160

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · Sep 5

Job losses were particularly acute in professional/business services, the federal govt, and wholesale trade, but there have also been sustained losses over recent months in manufacturing, construction, and mining, an indication that Trump's blue-collar renaissance is clearly not happening.
#EconSky

4 27 38

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · Sep 5

Good morning folks! Today's #jobsday has payrolls at +22k and unemployment edged up to 4.3%. Follow @elisegould.bsky.social for all the gossip

1 8

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · Aug 4

I was in California conducting focus groups with teachers last week. My big takeaway? Abbot Elementary is not a comedy, but actually a docuseries that accurately reflects how teachers scrape to get by all across the country.

3

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · Aug 1

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

9 91 160

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · Aug 4

I was travelling during #jobsday last week but wanted to share a few posts from my colleagues. In short, it's not good.

Josh Bivens @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social · Aug 1

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.

2

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · Aug 1

From @hshierholz.bsky.social: Trump's firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous. Between illegal firings, starving data agencies of resources, and now political intimidation, the US looks set to run into the next economic downturn flying blind

www.epi.org/press/trumps...

screenshot of the linked post titled "Trump’s firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous" by Heidi Shierholz, which reads:

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 playbook.

BLS is one of the most respected statistical agencies in the world, known for its methodological rigor, independence, and transparency. 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. These data are the product of careful work by hundreds of expert economists, statisticians, and civil servants following transparent, well-established methodologies.

4 18 34

Reposted by Hilary Wething

Elise Gould @elisegould.bsky.social · Jul 3

Wondering whether we might be headed into a recession? Check out @epi.org's Recession FAQ for data to watch and the consequences if it happens.
@joshbivens-econ.bsky.social @ahecon.bsky.social @hilwething.bsky.social @benzipperer.org
www.epi.org/publication/... #EconSky

Recession FAQ

Interest in recessions has been elevated lately. The word "recession" started spiking in both media discussions and Google searches in March and persisted into April (see Figure A). While the public’s...

www.epi.org

5 10