Free Republic

Migration and free trade impose huge unrecognized costs on ordinary people, says a Nobel-awarded Princeton economist who previously supported the unpopular, elite-backed policies. “I used to subscribe to the near consensus among economists that immigration to the US was a good thing,” Professor Angus Deaton wrote in a post for the International Monetary Fund. He continued: Longer-term analysis over the past century and a half tells a different story. Inequality was high when America was open [to migration], was much lower when the borders were closed [to migrants], and rose again post Hart-Celler (the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965)...

The jobless rate rose to 3.9%, up from 3.7% in January, even as employers added 275,000 jobs, the Labor Department said. Its monthly report is being closely watched for clues into how the world's largest economy is absorbing the jump in borrowing costs since 2022. The latest numbers sent mixed signals. Overall, analysts said there was little in the report to fuel major worries or raise fears that the economy would be harmed by higher interest rates. "Overall things still looking good," said Harvard professor Josh Furman, a former economic advisor to Barack Obama, on social media, while adding that...

link only, as it is from USA Today

In President Joe Biden’s America, illegal migrants get a five-star treatment while law-abiding U.S. citizens take a back seat. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) is trying to fast-track her plans of getting illegal aliens at the front of the line for government jobs. New York would be the first state in the nation to make it easier for asylum-seekers with work authorization to obtain government jobs. Hochul told Politico that she is “anxious to get this moving quickly.” The Democrat’s administration is easing requirements for such jobs as, English language proficiency, education qualifications, and certification for more than 4,000...

New York’s Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul is moving forward with her plan to retool the Civil Service Commission to put illegal aliens at the head of the line for state jobs. At the end of January, Hochul approved a plan for the state to hire 4,000 illegal aliens for entry-level state jobs. Not only is the state preparing to put illegals at the head of the line, but the plan Hochul approved eliminates several requirements for illegals to be eligible for the jobs. The rules requiring applicants to take the civil service exam and to have a high school diploma...

Sony is cutting 900 jobs from its PlayStation division, the gaming company announced Tuesday, becoming the latest tech giant to lay off part of its workforce. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President and CEO Jim Ryan announced the layoffs in a Tuesday email to PlayStation workers, saying they represent an 8 percent reduction across the company’s locations worldwide. “After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company,” Ryan wrote in the email. “We had to step back, look at our business...

resident Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized an air quality rule that the manufacturing industry is warning could wipe out one million jobs and undermine efforts to build new manufacturing facilities in America. Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), is set to sound the alarm about the regulation in his annual state of manufacturing address on Thursday in Roseville, Michigan, according to an advance copy of his remarks provided to FOX Business. "In his State of the Union Address next month, President Biden will probably take credit for what manufacturers have achieved. That's...

Millennials and Gen Zers are far more skeptical about starting a family than previous generations, with some pointing to a lack of financial stability and a potential climate crisis as factors. As a result that’s led to fertility rates plummeting. The average American woman is having just 1.6 children on average, per World Bank data. "The US population is still growing because of immigration" said ADM’s Ostwald. He added that the 2024 presidential election could be even more crucial for the economy. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump slammed Mexican migrants in his 2016 campaign. “Trump's objective is to actually slow migration...

Though the House of Representatives narrowly approved his impeachment, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told Kristin Welker of NBC's "Meet The Press" that "I have no regrets for anything that's happened on my watch. I have maintained all along that this country needs the millions of refugees that we have helped come into the country since President Biden took office." "Let's look at what we've gained," he suggested. "Hotel vacancy rates in some of our largest cities have plummeted. Many of these businesses were hit hard by the COVID lockdowns and were facing bankruptcy. Now with the government paying...

Nike is laying off 2% of its corporate workforce as it contends with weaker consumer spending. 'The actions that we’re taking put us in the position to right-size our organization to get after our biggest growth opportunities as interest in sport, health and wellness have never been stronger," Nike said in a statement to FOX Business. Starting Friday, more than 1,600 positions will be cut as the company tries to increase its investment in high-priority areas such as running, women's clothing and its Jordan brand, CEO John Donahoe told employees, according to a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal.

The Empire State is not expected to recover all the jobs lost from the COVID pandemic until at least late 2026, according to a new analysis. The report by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, which cited a forecast by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, expressed concern about New York’s slow jobs recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the rest of the country. “State employment growth is still forecasted to lag that of the nation,” DiNapoli’s analysis of Hochul’s executive budget plan said. “While the nation’s employment exceeds its pre-pandemic levels, New York has still not recovered all the jobs that were...

President Joe Biden is shielding Palestinians in the United States from deportation while authorizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to loosen work requirements to funnel them into American jobs. On Wednesday, Biden issued a memorandum to DHS and the State Department, providing most Palestinians in the U.S. with “Deferred Enforced Departure” for at least 18 months amid war in Israel with Hamas terrorists.

“Comparing the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023 shows 2.7 million more people working in the United States — 2.9 million more immigrants (legal and illegal) and 183,000 fewer U.S.-born Americans. Since the depths of the Covid Recession in 2020 employment has increased for both groups. But the number of U.S.-born workers has not made it back to the 2019 pre-Covid level. Equally important, the share of working-age, U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s not in the labor force deteriorated in the decades prior to 2019, and the rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 was lower...

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is planning to cut hundreds of jobs just days after airing the most-watched Super Bowl in history, according to Tuesday reports. The job cuts will result in a reduction of the company’s workforce by about 3 percent, The Guardian reported, noting staff had been notified on the decision on Tuesday. “To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Bob Bakish, Paramount’s top executive wrote in an internal memo obtained by the outlet. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the...

I watched Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is an amazing contrast to our 81-year old President with dementia who can barely speak while Putin was articulate. Not at all what Hillary Clinton was raving about (she is still furious about losing to Trump after losing to Obama). One thing that caught my attention was Putin talking about The Fed’s endless printing of money. Well, THAT is how the US grows GDP these days. Borrow and spend with the private sector as an after thought. Let’s revisit the HORRIBLE jobs report from December. Not only were all...

The media warn, "Artificial intelligence will replace millions of jobs." In San Francisco, Teamsters protest, demanding the government "protect" their jobs. In my new video, they chant, "Do not have these self-driving vehicles on San Francisco streets, taking jobs!" They're complaining about the Waymo driverless taxis already in use in part of San Francisco (and Phoenix). The union is right to worry. Robot cars don't get tired. They don't take lunch breaks. They don't drink or get distracted. Self-driving cars will replace many delivery-driver jobs, taxi jobs, Uber jobs and truck driver jobs. Texas is building a special highway with...

ESPN sports commentator Stephen A. Smith may be a left-winger, but he does not seem to be on board with the Biden regime’s open-border policies. On his Tuesday podcast, he ripped the millions being spent on illegal aliens while natural-born Americans are left wanting. As Smith wrapped up his show on Feb. 6, he left sports and entertainment behind to address politics in America. And he started his segment by saying that Donald Trump will be reelected as president in November “even if he’s a convicted felon” by that time. The commentator went on to explain why he feels that...

The Labor Department reported on Friday that nearly 8.13 million people held multiple jobs in January – up from 7.87 million one year ago. In total, they represent about 5.1% of the total U.S. workforce, an increase from 5% just one year ago. The growing likelihood of Americans holding more than one job comes as they continue to confront stubbornly high inflation that has rapidly eroded their purchasing power. In fact, the government reported last month that the average hourly earnings for all employees was $11.10 in December, which represents a 2.89% decline from the $11.43 figure in January 2021,...

The infamous jobs report from the BLS is like a scene from the film “Phantoms.” Where nothing is what is seems. The federal government in 2023 overestimated the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by an average of 105,000 per month in initial reports, equating to a cumulative monthly difference of 1.3 million, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The cumulative number of jobs reported each month was 1,255,000 less than previously thought, with new seasonal and census data affecting total employment estimates, according to data from the BLS calculated by the Daily Caller News...

I think the Biden Presidency is nicely summed-up by Biden confusing France’s President Macron with former French President Mitterand. Particularly since Mitterand died in 1996. Is Biden seeing dead people?? Anyway, the Biden economy and his Bidenomic strategy is based on massive debt expansion, both public and private debt. Household Debt reached $17.5 Trillion in Fourth Quarter; Delinquency Rates Rise Credit card delinquecies (90+ days) rose to almost 10% in Q4 2023. Credit card delinquencies surged more than 50% in 2023 as total consumer debt swelled to $17.5 trillion, the New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. Debt that has transitioned...