The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs in 2023 and early 2024 than previously reported, a sign that cracks in the labor market are more severe — and began forming earlier — than initially believed.

The consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 2.9% in July from a year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Wednesday. That figure is down from 3% in June and the lowest reading since March 2021.

We will continue to follow inflation, unemployment, and GDP growth closely. We hope to see greater job creation, particularly in sectors like manufacturing that pay a genuinely livable wage, even as prices continue to rise. The Fed’s decisions in the coming months will have direct impacts on our communities and businesses

We’re excited to partner with RTP Company, a growing and successful thermoplastic manufacturing company here in Gahanna, Ohio!

U.S. unemployment rate jumped to near a three-year high of 4.3% in July. A significant slowdown in hiring heightens fears of potentially making the economy vulnerable to a recession.

Likewise, the manufacturing industry sunk deeper into economic contraction last month, weighed down by political uncertainty and unwaveringly high interest rates. Much of the drop was due to a decrease in new orders for the first time in three months amid a “general slowdown” in demand persisting throughout the first half of 2024.

This summer, we’re reading Ors was the Shining Future. Drawing on decades of writing about the economy for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer David Leonhardt examines the complex history of the “American Dream.”

Leonhardt questions how, where once the great majority of Americans could hope to earn more than their parents, now only half are likely to. Two decades into the twenty-first century, life expectancy has declined, economic inequality has soared, and, after some progress, the Black-white wage gap is once again as large as it was in the 1950s. How did this happen in the world’s most powerful country?

Throughout Ohio, thousands of manufacturing jobs remain open, but employers simply can not find enough talent to fill them. None of these jobs required a college degree, and for workers looking to continue their education, many came with opportunities for tuition reimbursement and on-the-job training. Yet very few people know about career opportunities in advanced manufacturing, or how to acquire the skills employers were looking for.