Sean Higgins

3 weeks ago | cei.org | Ryan Young |Sean Higgins

May added 139,000 jobs to the economy, with the unemployment rate staying unchanged at 4.2 percent. Trump’s policies, namely his mission to shrink the federal government and the implementation of sweeping tariffs, have begun to shake up the labor market. CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins:“Friday’s jobs report shows that President Trump’s effort to shrink the federal government is finally beginning to take hold. Federal employment was down 22,000 in May and is down 59,000 overall since January.

1 month ago | cei.org | Sean Higgins

Justice Elana Kagan authored a lengthy dissent to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday granting the Trump administration’s request to keep the Gwynne Wilcox, the former chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), off the board. Kagan’s dissent defends the NLRB by repeatedly stating that it is “bipartisan.” The problem with her argument is that the law that created the board, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), doesn’t require it to be bipartisan.

1 month ago | cei.org | Sean Higgins

The city of Washington, DC has belatedly realized that passing a law whose purpose is to make a product or service more expensive will cause people to purchase less of that product or service. In this case, the law involved making restaurant service costlier. After a three year-long experiment that cost the lives of several DC eateries, the city may soon get rid of its minimum wage rule for waiters and waitresses.

1 month ago | cei.org | Ryan Young |Sean Higgins

The job numbers for April show 177,000 jobs were added to the economy, with the unemployment rate staying steady at 4.2 percent. While job growth is in a good spot currently, the effects of President Trump’s tariff policies have yet to majorly touch the U.S. labor market. CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young:“It was a rough week with both GDP shrinking and inflation still too high. While it’s good that April’s job growth was a stronger-than-expected 177,000, keep in mind that it works on a lag.

1 month ago | cei.org | Sean Higgins

The Transportation Department recently asked the public for comments on how to reduce the regulatory burden. One thought that the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) had was that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), a DOT agency, should get rid of a requirement instituted last year under the Biden administration that all trains have at least two operators at all times.