Heidi Shierholz
@hshierholz.bsky.social
5K followers 790 following 200 posts
President, @EPI-org. Board member, EPI Action. Former Chief Economist, US Dept of Labor. Bike commuter, backyard beekeeper. Tweets my own. She/her.
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Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
aaronsojourner.org
The real value of the Bureau of Labor Statistics's budget has fallen for over a decade.

The president is proposing deep cuts alongside other attacks on the agency.

Progress requires Congress to re-establish BLS independence & support innovation & funding.
www.americanprogress.org/article/the-...
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
costasamaras.com
Thank you to the career federal employees, who show up to work every day and improve people's lives across the country.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
zparolin.bsky.social
New WP: We study how minimum wage increases affect poverty and food hardship in the U.S from 1981-2019. Different from recent work, we study the Supplemental Poverty Measure + two measures of food hardship, factor in cost-of-living differences, and more. www.iza.org/publications...
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
justinwolfers.bsky.social
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
ericagroshen.bsky.social
#BLS has delayed the 2024 Consumer Expenditures Survey annual release. This is likely due to the severe understaffing in the agency.
Staff losses and hiring freeze are taking their toll.

www.bls.gov/cex/notices/...

#econsky
Consumer Expenditures 2024 Data Release to be Rescheduled
Consumer Expenditures 2024 Data Release to be Rescheduled (9/19/2025)
www.bls.gov
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
guerino.bsky.social
Big thanks to Senator Warner and all the original cosponsors who introduced this bill to reverse the single biggest act of unionbusting in American history. Each day, we’re building momentum to rescind Trump’s bogus, illegal, unconstitutional EO.
A Senate bill seeks to restore collective bargaining for federal workers - WTOP News
A group of senators introduced legislation on Capitol Hill that’s designed to restore collective bargaining rights to a huge swath of federal employees.
wtop.com
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
jschmittwdc.bsky.social
Economist Valerie Wilson @epi.org on "What’s behind rising unemployment for Black workers?"

www.epi.org/blog/whats-b...
Screenshot of text paragraph: "For the last five years, I’ve given the same answer in response to questions about any one-month increase in the Black unemployment rate. Given the relatively small sample size used to calculate the number each month, we shouldn’t make too much of a single month’s increase but focus on longer-term patterns and see if the upward trend continues over the next few months. Well, as of August 2025, the Black unemployment rate has risen for three consecutive months and now stands at 7.5%."
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Just so I'm clear:

TV host says we should kill every homeless person? No big deal

TV host says the right must "go to war" with the left? Pfft.

TV host says the government is cracking down on critics? Well, the government cracks down on him for the criticism.

Free speech, everyone.
hshierholz.bsky.social
Huge congratulations Anna, what an incredible milestone and dream realized!!
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
aaronsojourner.org
America's lowest wage workers were experiencing the fastest wage growth from 2015-2022.

Now they are experiencing the slowest wage growth and the most abrupt deceleration.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
rbreich.bsky.social
When Trump said "I am your voice," this is who he was talking to.
hshierholz.bsky.social
Lisa Cook will remain on the Fed while she fights Trump’s illegal attempt to oust her. This is a crucial victory for Fed Independence. Why it matters: www.epi.org/press/trumps...
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
guerino.bsky.social
Union rights on the line in House of Reps today and tomorrow! Rep Norcross got language into the NDAA that restores collective bargaining rights to DOD employees. Now an amendment by Rep Onder (#19) would strip that language. Pls call your rep & tell them: VOTE NO on Onder Amendment #19 to HR 3838.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
icidmartinez.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
hilwething.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
benzipperer.org
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.
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
elisegould.bsky.social
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
hshierholz.bsky.social
Not really wrong -- even with these (preliminary) revisions, the labor market added 111,000 jobs per month on average in 2024, which is solid. But it is down significantly from the originally reported 168,000 jobs added per month on average.
hshierholz.bsky.social
Fantastic explainer on today's preliminary benchmark revisions from BLS. Trump will rage—but revisions aren't “rigging.” They’re the transparent, routine process of making jobs data more accurate as more comprehensive records come in. It's not manipulation—it's science. 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. T...
www.epi.org
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
jc-econ.bsky.social
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...
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
epi.org
Trump is using DC as a punching bag and hurting the workers and families that keep this city running, says EPI President @hshierholz.bsky.social
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
elisegould.bsky.social
The labor market continues to soften, according to the latest #JobsReport out this morning from the BLS. Payroll employment grew only 22,000 in August and revisions now show employment losses for June (-13,000). Over the last three months, job growth has slowed to just 29,000 on average.
#EconSky
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
justinwolfers.bsky.social
The job market continues to slow, and it's pretty dramatic. Keeping our head above water (for now).

August jobs growth was only +22k. July revised up +6k to +79k. June was revised down by -27k to -13k. Average jobs growth over the three months = +29k.

Unemployment rose a tick to 4.3%
Reposted by Heidi Shierholz
mclem.org
The economic effects of purging immigrants have been extensively studied.

Here is a very nice estimate of the job losses that US natives can expect from the current purge, leveraging the best research economists have, by @benzipperer.org and colleagues.
benzipperer.org
using this research we calculated that four years of Trump's deportation agenda would reduce both US-born and immigrant employment by millions
Screenshot of a table from an Economic Policy Institute report. The table's title is "Trump's escalation of deportations could destroy nearly 6 million jobs" and subtitle is "Employment losses caused by increasing deportations to 4,000,000 over four years"