Trump Opens New Front in Politicization of the US Economy
For months, economists have warned that Trump's relentless criticism of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell risks undermining faith in America's economic institutions and even the mighty greenback itself.
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The labor market just hit a wall. Here's what it means for the economy.
Friday's disappointing July employment report delivered a reality check on the U.S. economy, with the data suggesting the job market is wobbling from the uncertainty of on-again, off-again tariffs. What was surprising about the Friday report was that employers not only hired fewer people than expected last month, but the government revised its jobs data sharply downward for the prior two months. With the revisions, the U.S. added 19,000 jobs in May and 14,000 in June, reflecting "paltry" employment growth during those months, according to a research note from EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco. The latest jobs data is shedding new light on the U.S. economy as businesses absorb a multitude of changes — from President Trump's trade deals and fresh tariffs to the new GOP tax law, which provides tax breaks to many Americans but also cuts spending on health care and social programs like food stamps. The jobs data backs up anecdotal evidence from the Federal Reserve's most recent "beige book" — a report that compiles comments from local businesses — that many companies are delaying hiring "until uncertainty diminished." "Based on what I was hearing from a lot of employers, I kept expecting to see a stagnant jobs report at some point, that's what we got today," Laura Ullrich, Indeed's director of economic research for North America and a former official at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, told CBS MoneyWatch. She added, "We know the economy has ups and downs, and we're in a pretty stagnant place right now." In other words, while the labor market isn't seeing massive layoffs, companies also aren't expanding their hiring plans. That can make it difficult for unemployed workers to find new jobs, with the number of people searching for work for more than 27 weeks jumping 11% to 1.8 million last month compared with a year earlier, government data shows. Pockets of strength To be sure, there were pockets of strength in the jobs report, with health care and social assistance adding a combined 73,300 jobs last month, the BLS reported. But many major U.S. employment sectors saw little or no hiring, including leisure and hospitality, transportation and construction, while others — including manufacturing — saw job losses last month, the July data shows. President Trump on Friday claimed without evidence that the jobs report was manipulated for "political purposes," and fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. He also asserted that the downward revisions were "a major mistake," although the BLS revises its data each month to reflect new information, and the numbers frequently move both up and down. "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," noted Heidi Shierholz, the president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute and a former chief economist at the Department of Labor, in a post about McEntarfer's firing. She added, "These data are the product of careful work by hundreds of expert economists, statisticians and civil servants following transparent, well-established methodologies." Tariff uncertainty Businesses have been expressing hesitation given the uncertain impact of the Trump's tariffs, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Beth Hammack told CBS News' Kelly O'Grady. "I'm hearing that uncertainty has really been weighing on businesses," Hammack said of her discussions with business owners in her district, which spans Eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and part of West Virginia. "They've been having a tough time to decide when to invest, how much to invest. Many of them have scaled back plans for investment." For instance, one franchise owner said that they planned to refurbish their existing locations, rather than open new locations, she added. Mr. Trump has said tariffs would revive U.S. manufacturing because companies will reshore or open new factories domestically, rather than pay the import duties. Some Trump officials portrayed the jobs report as a temporary setback as the administration seeks to revive American jobs through its trade policies. "Obviously there were elements of [the jobs report] that we didn't love, but the trade deals are now in place that cover — including the U.S. — almost 60% of the global economy," Stephen Miran, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, told reporters Friday. With the setting of new tariff rates on Thursday for dozens of nations, uncertainty has also been resolved, he added. "There probably were a lot of firms that, you know, sort of sitting there in May and June saying, 'Hey, you know, this tariff stuff's about to be resolved, this bill you know hopefully becomes law within a month or two — maybe I'm just going to hold off on this investment program.'" Also on Friday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement describing a flourishing economy under President Trump. "Inflation has cooled, wages have increased, unemployment is stable, and the private sector is growing. President Trump's America First agenda has ensured new jobs go to American citizens, instead of illegals or foreign-born workers. The tariffs are raking in billions of dollars to make our country wealthy again," the statement read in part. A decline in manufacturing jobs The U.S. lost 11,000 manufacturing jobs in July, and the revisions for May and June also show that the sector shed workers during those months. That's notable given Mr. Trump's promise to revive manufacturing jobs, which has led to new agreements from the likes of Johnson & Johnson and Apple to build new plants in the U.S. But the Trump administration's tariffs have added to the challenges facing the manufacturing sector, especially those producing durable goods such as appliances and automobiles, noted Indeed's Ullrich. For instance, tariffs on imported metals such as steel and aluminum are making it pricier for many manufacturers to create their products, putting pressure on their margins and profits. The downturn in manufacturing jobs "is hardly surprising," said Scott Paul, president of the trade group the Alliance for American Manufacturing, in an email. "It's another 'treading water' number, which has been the case more often than not for the past few years. But it is concerning that we're now 173,000 jobs below the most recent peak in February 2023," when total nonfarm payroll employment rose to 155.4 million. It's possible that manufacturing jobs could reverse the trend now that the Trump administration's tariffs and tax policies are settled, Paul added. Progress on the Trump administration's goal of reshoring American manufacturing jobs may take years, given the cost and time required to build new factories, Ullrich noted. "There are certain products that, even with the tariffs, are still cheaper to make overseas," she added. "This is not a healthy job market," said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, in an email. "The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs. The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs." How safe is our Social Security safety net? Texas House votes to arrest lawmakers who fled state to stop redistricting vote What is "most-favored nation" drug pricing and how does it work? 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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Intel's credit rating downgraded by Fitch on demand challenges
By Matt Tracy (Reuters) -Fitch downgrading U.S. chipmaker Intel's credit rating by one notch on Monday, according to a note by the ratings agency, which assigned a negative outlook to Intel's rating. Fitch downgraded Intel to BBB from BBB-plus, placing it just two notches shy of junk credit status. The downgrade follows Fitch's assessment that Santa Clara, California-headquartered Intel faces heightened challenges maintaining demand for its products. Fitch cited growing competition from peers such as Dutch rival NXP Semiconductors, Broadcom Inc and Advanced Micro Devices. "Credit metrics remain weak and will require both stronger end markets and successful product ramps, along with net debt reduction over the next 12-14 months" for Intel to recover its recent ratings, Fitch analysts wrote on Monday. Fitch added that while Intel holds a better market position than other similarly rated peers, its financial structure is relatively weaker and it faces "higher execution risk." Intel still enjoys a strong market position in the provision of PCs and traditional enterprise servers, Fitch noted, while warning the company faces heightened PC competition from Qualcomm and AMD. Intel will need to ramp up its PC shipments while also reducing its balance sheet debt to recover its previous credit ratings, Fitch said. The ratings agency called Intel's liquidity profile "solid," which as of June 28 consisted of a $21.2 billion mix of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, as well as an untapped $7 billion credit revolver. It also had an undrawn $5 billion, 364-day revolver that will come due in January 2026, Fitch said. Fellow ratings agency S&P Global similarly downgraded Intel's credit rating to BBB from BBB-plus in December, while Moody's Ratings downgraded its senior unsecured debt's rating in August last year.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Yes, Stephen Colbert once said quote about US being 'Christian nation that doesn't help the poor'
Claim: Talk show host Stephen Colbert once said, "If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition ... and then admit that we just don't want to do it." Rating: An alleged quote attributed to late night TV host Stephen Colbert circulated on social media in late July and early August 2025, purporting that the comedian made a cutting remark about the state of Christianity in the United States. The quote has been shared on social media for years, as evidenced by a post on X (archived) from 2022. In the wake of CBS announcing the end of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," however, users on social media started sharing the alleged quote once more on platforms like BlueSky (archived), Threads (archived) and Facebook (archived). The alleged quote in question states: If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition ... and then admit that we just don't want to do it. Some users agreed with Colbert's alleged sentiment and shared the statement alongside an image of Colbert sitting at a desk, adding, "It's time to reiterate what the teachings of Jesus or prophets/revered enlightened leaders of any religion were actually saying to help humankind evolve. It's about love and inclusion. Not hate, violence, or power." The quote above was correctly attributed to Colbert. The comedian said it during a Christmas-themed episode of "The Colbert Report" that aired on Comedy Central on Dec. 16, 2010, with featured guests comedian Amy Sedaris and musician Paul Simon. The segment in which the quote appeared was titled, "Jesus was a Liberal Democrat." It's worth noting that "The Colbert Report," which ran on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014, featured Colbert playing a satirical characterization of himself as a conservative commentator. However, we must also note that episodes of "The Colbert Report" are no longer available on any streaming services, and clips posted to YouTube are primarily limited to 2014, the show's final year before Colbert moved on to host "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS. Nonetheless, there is substantial reporting about the quote from the time it aired, as well as an audio clip of the moment on YouTube that was published on Sept. 21, 2011. As such, we are confident in attributing the quote in question to Colbert despite a lack of visual evidence online. Business Insider reported on the segment at the time, citing it as the latest in an ongoing war of words between Colbert and (real) conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly over Jesus' teachings. The article cited a summary of an upcoming episode of O'Reilly's show that read, "Colbert … Jesus … and the poor. The late night comic is now a theologian — and attacks Bill in the process! But does he have his Biblical facts straight?" A writer for State of Formation, an "online forum for emerging religious and ethical leaders," discussed the segment on Dec. 20, 2010: It makes an argument that as both a religious and a political liberal I am all too happy to hear. It is Stephen Colbert — a person universally known and, among my generation in particular, almost universally esteemed and, yes, respected — calling out those who profess to be Christians yet espouse policies that further neglect or oppress those in the lowest income brackets. Beneath (and also because of) its satirical aim, this is a powerful argumentative blow to some on the religious and/or political Right. Further, a writer for the alternative newspaper Portland Mercury discussed the segment the day after it aired and stated: What really got me was a piece that brilliantly satirizes an issue near and dear to my heart: the inherent hypocrisy of Christianity in the West. Since this is Blogtown and not Obvious Theology 101 I know I don't have to spell this s*** out; we all know that the basic tenants of Christ's teachings (give away all your money, judge not lest ye be judged, divorced people are committing adultery, etc.) are ignored by pretty much everyone, especially those who claim to be Christians. Finally, TV Tropes also listed the quote as Colbert's, though it denotes it as attributable to "the character" rather than "the person." Snopes reached out to Colbert's representatives to see if they can provide the episode featuring the quote and will update this article if we hear back. - YouTube. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025. "Amy Sedaris/Paul Simon." The Colbert Report, directed by Paul B. Cummings, 16 Dec. 2010. Bow, Dave. "Stephen Colbert Agrees: Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat." Portland Mercury, Accessed 4 Aug. 2025. Katovitch, Celie. "The H. Clearly Stands for Hussein": Jesus H. Christ, Theological Honesty, and Stephen Colbert. 20 Dec. 2010, "Stephen Colbert." TV Tropes, Accessed 4 Aug. 2025. "Stephen Colbert And Bill O'Reilly Are Fighting Over Whether Jesus Was A Liberal." Business Insider, Accessed 4 Aug. 2025. "Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' Is Canceled by CBS and Will End in May 2026." AP News, 17 Jul. 2025,
