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This July, 15 states and localities increase their minimum wage while others claw back gains for workers | Economic Policy Institute
On July 1, the minimum wage will increase in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.—lifting wages for more than 880,000 workers and collectively raising their earnings by more than $397 million (see Figure A). In addition to these two states and D.C., 12 cities and counties are also increasing their minimum wage this summer, including Chicago,…
A personal reflection on the political violence in Minnesota | Economic Policy Institute
Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and State Senator John Hoffman are my legislators. On the morning of June 14, a right-wing extremist assassinated Melissa Hortman and her husband. John Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times in an attempt on their lives; their prognosis is guardedly positive. I’ve spoken and worked with Melissa…
Public colleges are more diverse than ever—but anti-DEI policies threaten that progress | Economic Policy Institute
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision striking down the use of race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions—undermining universities’ efforts to maintain diverse and racially inclusive campuses. Since then, the classroom has remained a battleground for equity, with a Department of Education hijacked by Trump’s agenda to end “wokeness” and…
Forget ‘no tax on tips’—increasing the minimum wage would deliver dramatically larger raises for millions more workers without letting employers off the hook | Economic Policy Institute
At President Trump’s direction, Congress is considering proposals to exempt tips from taxable income. After Trump floated this gimmick on the campaign trail, Republican and Democratic elected officials alike have embraced the idea. The House Republican budget bill (H.R. 1) includes a “no tax on tips” provision that gives the illusion of helping lower-income workers—while…
Trump’s crusade against health and safety regulations endangers workers, hobbles the environmental justice movement, and sets the stage for our next public health crisis | Economic Policy Institute
What is happening? The Trump administration is taking a reckless approach to deregulation. In his first day in office, Trump ordered a regulatory freeze, barring departments and agencies from issuing any new regulations and pushing back pending regulations until they could be reviewed by a Trump administration appointee. The administration has issued several additional deregulatory…
May jobs report sends mixed signals: Solid payroll gains contrast with a weaker household survey and a continued decline in federal government employment | Economic Policy Institute
Below, EPI economists offer their insights on the jobs report released this morning, which showed 139,000 jobs added in May. From EPI senior economist, Elise Gould: Read the full thread here. The latest BLS data out this morning suggests the labor market remains relatively resilient compared to softer measures though the household survey shows some…
Trump’s attacks on the Department of Labor will hurt wages and working conditions | Economic Policy Institute
In just a few months, the Trump administration has demonstrated its willingness to abandon workers and undermine their wages and working conditions. This includes repeated attacks to the Department of Labor (DOL)—the federal agency that oversees federal wage and hour laws, worker safety, workforce development, and employee benefits protection programs. Anti-worker nominations to key DOL…
House Republican budget bill gives Trump $185 billion to carry out his mass deportation agenda—while doing nothing for workers: Immigration enforcement would have 80 times more funding than labor standards enforcement | Economic Policy Institute
House Republicans recently passed Trump’s budget reconciliation legislation that massively redistributes income from some of the poorest households to the richest. It is now under consideration in the Senate and Trump is pressuring senators to pass it without major changes. Aside from cutting taxes by trillions for the wealthy, kicking 15 million people off health…
House budget bill would kick 15 million people off health insurance and damage local economies | Economic Policy Institute
House Republicans wanted to find a way to defray the cost of the tax cuts they passed for the richest households in the country. They chose to slash programs helping some of the most vulnerable families—including Medicaid and subsidies that let people buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This direct transfer of…
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) succeeded in sustaining state and local government services during the pandemic: 99% of ARPA fiscal recovery funds were obligated on schedule | Economic Policy Institute
December 31, 2024, was the deadline for state and local governments to obligate the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) they received as part of 2021’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). State and local governments had until the end of 2024 to commit ARPA funds to specific projects. EPI analysis of data released May 20…
Trump is making it easier for employers to discriminate. This stifles equity and hurts economic growth. | Economic Policy Institute
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has long been a cornerstone in upholding the civil rights of U.S. workers. Established under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC is a five-member, bipartisan commission appointed by the president to enforce federal laws against employment discrimination. The Trump administration, however, has taken…
How Trump has dismantled the federal workforce in his first 100 days | Economic Policy Institute
During the first 100 days of this administration, Trump has unrelentingly attacked the federal workforce, creating an environment of chaos and inefficiency that will make it harder for federal workers to provide public goods that we all rely on. Most notable are Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce, including firing thousands…
States must safeguard language access for AAPI communities as Trump undermines federal protections | Economic Policy Institute
On March 1, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14224, designating English as the official language of the United States. This order revoked EO 13166, issued in August 2000, which aimed to improve access to federal programs for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). It also directs the attorney general to rescind and revise federal…
Americans favor labor unions over big business now more than ever | Economic Policy Institute
This piece was also published on Medium. For decades, Americans were evenly divided in their relative support of labor unions and big business, but that’s no longer the case. Now, Americans are more likely to side with labor than at any time in the past 60 years. For people whose instincts about economic and political…
Progress on paid leave in the South: New state parental leave policies are a small but welcome step toward comprehensive paid leave for all Southern workers | Economic Policy Institute
While still lagging the rest of the country regarding workers’ access to paid leave, several states in the South—including Alabama and Mississippi this year—have begun to take the small but welcome step of ensuring paid parental leave to some public employees. While these laws cover only certain groups of workers and solely provide the paid…
By repealing paid sick leave, Missouri legislators will hurt working families | Economic Policy Institute
Late last Wednesday night, the Missouri Republican-controlled legislature overrode the will of the state’s voters by repealing the paid sick leave portion of Proposition A, a ballot measure passed with 58% support in the 2024 election. This short-sighted decision is a step backward for Missouri’s working families and a violation of the democratic process. Workers…
Coordinated attacks on state labor standards are laying the groundwork for dangerous Project 2025 proposals to undermine all workers’ rights | Economic Policy Institute
Following a growing trend, Republican lawmakers this year proposed legislation in Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio that would undermine federal laws on child labor, minimum wage, and worker health and safety protections. These proliferating state challenges to federal law are laying the groundwork for more extreme and dangerous Project 2025 proposals to allow employers across…
Southern and Midwestern districts are the most vulnerable to Social Security cuts and disruptions | Economic Policy Institute
Recent attacks on the Social Security Administration (SSA) by Elon Musk’s DOGE team and others in the Trump administration threaten the stability of this critical agency. In addition to endangering the financial well-being of millions of retired, disabled, and low-income people in the U.S., delays and disruptions also harm state and local economies dependent on…
Trump attacks on temporary immigration protections like TPS hurt the economy and strip millions of their workplace rights | Economic Policy Institute
The Trump administration has waged numerous attacks on workers’ rights during its first 100 days, as outlined in EPI’s recent report. Some of the most damaging actions include targeting millions of migrant workers who have been granted the ability to reside and work in the United States lawfully, and who are currently employed in key…
Trump-led attacks on equity are setting the stage for our next public health crisis | Economic Policy Institute
What is happening? The Trump administration is advancing an anti-equity agenda that will make people in the U.S. sicker and less economically secure. In his first 100 days, Trump rescinded dozens of Biden-era executive orders designed to advance racial equity and directed federal agencies to end all diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility offices and programs.…
Corruption in plain sight: How Elon Musk has benefited from the first 100 days of the Trump administration | Economic Policy Institute
During the first 100 days of his administration, President Trump has consistently put the interests of billionaires and corporations over working people. This is most evident by the Trump administration already halting or dismissing nearly 90 investigations against lawbreaking corporations, according to a recent report by Public Citizen. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this…
Class of 2025: Young workers were poised to graduate into a promising labor market, but Trump policy actions could unravel progress | Economic Policy Institute
Young workers have experienced a strong labor market coming out of the pandemic recession, with better job opportunities and faster wage growth than they experienced in much of the prior four decades. However, the Trump administration’s recent attacks on the federal workforce, higher education, and registered apprenticeships—as well as imposing extreme tariffs—threaten to reverse these…
The five-alarm fire that public education is facing | Economic Policy Institute
Acknowledgments: This blog post would not have been possible without the intellectual contribution and data analysis conducted by Joanna LeFebvre and Katja Krieger. All children deserve to attend welcoming and well-funded schools where they can learn and grow, regardless of race, disability, or income. But funding for public schools, where nearly 90% of all U.S.…
Jobs report doesn’t reveal clear signs of broad economic weakness—yet | Economic Policy Institute
Below, EPI senior economist Elise Gould offers her insights on the jobs report released this morning, which showed 177,000 jobs added in April. Read the full thread here. The hard data on the labor market remains far more resilient than softer measures have suggested in recent weeks. The unemployment rate held steady with a bump…
Some states and localities will be better prepared to fight a possible recession because of how they used ARPA fiscal recovery funds | Economic Policy Institute
With today’s news that GDP declined in the first quarter of 2025, there are increasing signs that the economy is headed in the wrong direction, with the risks of a recession and higher unemployment on the rise. Working families will face increased challenges in a recession. As always, government policies can do a lot to…
Too many workers die on the job every year. Trump’s attacks on OSHA will kill more. | Economic Policy Institute
This Monday marked Workers Memorial Day, an annual international day of remembrance of workers who have died on the job, as well as a day of action to continue the fight for workplace safety. An estimated 140,587 U.S. workers died from hazardous working conditions in 2023, according to a new AFL-CIO report. This amounts to…
Cuts to SNAP benefits will disproportionately harm families of color and children | Economic Policy Institute
Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration passed a budget blueprint to pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor rich households at the expense of working people. Communities of color will be disproportionately impacted by these potential cuts. In addition to targeting Medicaid—we highlighted how Medicaid cuts would be especially harmful for people of color…
What to watch for in this week’s labor market data: Will there be signs of widespread economic distress? | Economic Policy Institute
As the Trump administration pursues a deeply chaotic policy agenda, key labor market data haven’t yet revealed strong signs of economic weakness, but other sources indicate growing recessionary pressures. Consumer expectations are more pessimistic about inflation and unemployment, manufacturing and construction activity are declining, the stock market has fallen and remains volatile, and GDP forecasts…
The federal minimum wage is officially a poverty wage in 2025 | Economic Policy Institute
In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines). The limitations of how the federal government calculates poverty understate how far…
How should we assess and characterize worker wage growth in recent decades? | Economic Policy Institute
Our recently released State of Working America wages report includes new data on wages through 2024. Cumulative median wage growth was just 29% since 1979—or less than 0.6% per year on average. This was far slower than the economy’s potential to deliver wage growth for all workers. In fact, as Figure A shows, median wage…
The unlawful abduction and imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia puts all workers in peril | Economic Policy Institute
The Trump administration’s unlawful removal of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador—and willful defiance of court orders to facilitate his return—are demonstrating a flagrant disregard for due process that puts all U.S. residents in danger. The case has become the biggest test of the rule of law so far in the…
How Trump’s erasure of environmental data is endangering communities of color | Economic Policy Institute
President Trump has weakened the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by understaffing, underfunding, and restricting its work—leaving vulnerable communities at higher risk of environmental discrimination and racism. Within weeks of taking office, Trump revoked several key Biden-era executive orders on climate, public health, and environmental justice. While some of Trump’s actions have been reversed, his attacks…
Trump’s gutting of public health institutions is setting the stage for our next crisis | Economic Policy Institute
What is happening? The Trump administration is gutting our national public health infrastructure in real time, setting the stage for the next public health crisis. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), tasked with “protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to protect…
Trump is putting crucial school funding at risk by dismantling the Department of Education: See how much federal funding your school district could lose | Economic Policy Institute
Last month, President Trump ordered Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to move forward with plans to close the Department of Education (ED). While this move is illegal and has been met with litigation, it shows the Trump administration’s hostility to public education and raises deep concerns about how public school districts across the country will…
At least 26 states have launched their own version of DOGE: These states are simply rebranding longstanding efforts to undermine government in service of the wealthy | Economic Policy Institute
The Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has wrought havoc on the federal government, diminishing its ability to perform essential work—like administering Social Security benefits for retirees, weather forecasting to predict tornadoes, and environmental pollution cleanup—while creating new inefficiencies and increased public costs. Now, many Republican governors and state lawmakers are demonstrating their…
A coalition of hundreds of employers is asking the Trump administration to override the NLRB and dictate labor law | Economic Policy Institute
With the Trump administration implementing a blizzard of anti-worker initiatives on a near-daily basis, it’s difficult to imagine that these early assaults could be only the tip of the iceberg. But President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk may well have far worse plans to attack U.S. workers and labor relations. One little-seen proposal from outside…
Wage growth since 1979 has not been stagnant, but it has definitely been suppressed | Economic Policy Institute
We recently released our annual report assessing wage growth in the U.S. economy. We highlighted that strong and broadly shared wage growth since 2019 contrasted sharply with much slower and unequal rates of growth before that year. This report's release is also a good time to be explicit about a judgement we’ve made in recent…
Trump attacks on federal agencies have steep implications for Black workers | Economic Policy Institute
In just over two months, the Trump administration has laid off tens of thousands of federal workers at several agencies. Probationary employees, foreign aid staff, and workers dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were the first targets of these cuts that have since spread to include dismantling the U.S. Department of Education—with more to…
Missouri Republican state lawmakers are pushing a radical anti-worker tax plan | Economic Policy Institute
The piece has been updated to reflect the latest version of the bill passed by the Missouri Senate, which no longer eliminates the state earned income tax credit, reduces the corporate income tax, or changes the graduated income tax rate structure with a flat tax. The estimates of the bill's overall cost and how much…
What is DOGE doing to Social Security? | Economic Policy Institute
Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attacks on Social Security aren’t about efficiency. The word “efficiency” may be in the name of his initiative to reduce the size of the federal government, but a more accurate description of what President Trump’s advisor is doing to Social Security is sabotage. DOGE announced plans to cut…