4.9 • 683 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the United States added 139,000 “non-farm payroll jobs” in the month of May, 2025. These figures came in close to what experts projected and depending upon one’s ideological perspective, it was either evidence of economic strength and resilience under Trump or a sign of a slowing job market as a result of Trump’s tariff policies and economic uncertainty. What the mainstream media didn’t cover as much were the prior month revisions, or how the demographic shifts are artificially boosting labor participation numbers. With an economic slowdown on the horizon, AI already taking entry-level jobs, recent graduates having trouble finding employment, a quarter of the population participating in the gig economy and an aging population, there is trouble brewing. And some of it is already here.
Resources
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Situation Summary - 2025 M05 Results
Tulane: Importance of Data Collection in Public Health
Common Dreams: Hitler’s First 100 Days — And Trump’s
St. Louis Fed: Labor Force Participation Rate (CIVPART)
St. Louis Fed: Labor Force Participation Rate - 25-54 Yrs. (LNU01300060)
St. Louis Fed: Labor Force Participation Rate - 55 Yrs. & over (LNS11324230)
AARP: Are the Last Boomers Ready for Retirement?
CNN: AI company’s CEO issues warning about mass unemployment
Gig Economy Data Hub: How many gig workers are there?
US Census Bureau: Demographic Turning Points for the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060
UNFTR Resources
Building a Civilian Labor Corps: Bracing for the AI Job Apocalypse.
Video: 2025 Jobs Data is Total BULLSH*T
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0:00.0 | Topical cream |
0:02.5 | A pod listener's dream |
0:06.1 | Unfucking the news |
0:08.7 | And current events |
0:11.4 | Topical cream |
0:13.4 | Yeah, you know what I mean |
0:16.8 | A quarter of an hour |
0:19.6 | It gets you out two cents topical cream. |
0:28.6 | Hey, let me know which take you prefer. |
0:32.0 | This economy is so resilient, it added 139,000 jobs in May, slightly beating projections, even in the face of |
0:40.3 | Trump's tariffore and ongoing uncertainty. The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 4.2%. Or try this one. |
0:50.6 | The economy is showing signs of weakness, as it only added 139,000 jobs in May, |
0:57.2 | demonstrating a softness in the labor market on the eve of the potential impact of Trump's tariff war and ongoing uncertainty. |
1:04.7 | The unemployment rate remains at a stubborn 4.2%. |
1:08.3 | Now, it depends on where you're looking for the information, right? |
1:11.0 | I mean, which is it? |
1:12.5 | How we count jobs and unemployment in this country has been the subject of great debate, |
1:17.4 | and the sides usually line up along ideological lines. |
1:20.9 | Pundits on the right and the left will look for narratives to reinforce their positions |
1:24.7 | depending on who's in office. |
1:26.5 | And once a month, the headlines last for a single day, |
1:29.7 | and then we move on and go about our business. |
... |
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