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2 weeks ago | 
tcf.org | Andrew Stettner |Emily McGrath
Manufacturing has long been a cornerstone of the U.S. economy and a vital pathway to middle-class stability for millions of Americans. Supporting the sector’s success benefits all of us. Yet despite President Trump’s campaign promise of a manufacturing renaissance, his administration has shown little grasp of the global production landscape, the role of federal support, or of the strategic planning needed to achieve such a goal.
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1 month ago | 
tcf.org | Emily McGrath
The foundation of the United States’ global competitiveness and long-term prosperity is its workforce. The country’s knowledge- and technology-intensive (KTI) economy is directly powered by the ingenuity and creativity of the national talent pool, making it the most valuable asset in the economy.
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1 month ago | 
tcf.org | Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris
The country’s workforce faces numerous challenges in responding to the opportunities and threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI), ranging from
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1 month ago | 
tcf.org | Gayle Goldin |Steven Greenhouse |Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris
In a reversal that underscores both the political sensitivity and economic importance of U.S. manufacturing, the Trump administration is walking back its April 1 decision to zero out millions in funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers whose contracts were up for renewal in ten states.
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1 month ago | 
tcf.org | Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) serves as the nation’s primary federal workforce development framework, providing job seekers with access to training, employment services, and supportive resources while also facilitating career navigation and regional workforce planning. Though funding for the WIOA is limited relative to the nation’s workforce challenges, it plays an important role in meeting the talent needs of local industries.
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2 months ago | 
tcf.org | Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris |Laura Gutierrez |Laura Gutiérrez |Alejandra Vazquez Baur
Imagine this:Thirteen-year-old children working the night shift cleaning the kill floors of meatpacking plants, their small hands barely able to hold the tools they are required to use. Working people putting in fifty-hour workweeks and getting paid for just a fraction of the hours they worked. Hardworking coal miners working underground, forced to travel miles in mines that haven’t had safety inspections.
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2 months ago | 
tcf.org | Kit Lee |Emily McGrath |Michele Evermore |Lea Woods
The Trump administration has announced (and delayed, and re-announced, and delayed again) 25-percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10-percent tariff on goods from China. Tariffs will make various goods more expensive for U.S. consumers and businesses, and over 40 percent of U.S. imports come from either China, Canada, or Mexico. Moreover, some experts believe that tariffs will shrink the U.S. economy overall.
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Feb 21, 2025 | 
tcf.org | Steven Greenhouse |Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris |Andrew Stettner
On February 18, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to assume control over independent administrative agencies, including those that hear and decide individual cases involving workers’ rights and protections, such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Independent agencies were carefully designed by Congress—decades ago—to ensure that they can act in accordance with the law, unaffected by political influence or presidential favoritism.
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Feb 18, 2025 | 
tcf.org | Emily McGrath |Michelle Burris |Andrew Stettner |Michele Evermore
As a presidential candidate last fall, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to battle for U.S. workers, but ever since he returned to the White House, he has taken a surprisingly large number of anti-worker actions, labor experts say. Some of those actions, among them hobbling the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), will help Trump’s billionaire business friends, most notably Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
tcf.org | Nicholas Danforth |Aron Lund |Emily McGrath |Michele Evermore
As President Trump threatens to slap steep tariffs on many countries, he is boasting that his taxes on imports will be a boon to the U.S. economy, but most economists strongly disagree—many say Trump’s tariffs will increase inflation, slow economic growth, hurt U.S. workers and result in American consumers footing the bill for his tariffs.
