Black News

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries flew to Austin, Texas, today to address Texas redistricting. Republicans who control the legislature and the Governor’s Mansion in Texas are working to redraw the congressional district lines after President Trump stated that he thought that five more congressional seats could be created. “Donald Trump ordered Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans to race back to Austin for a special legislative session,” Leader Jeffries said, standing in front of a group of congressional and Texas elected officials.

“Our message to the people of Texas and to this great country is simple: You deserve better,” he added. The Democratic Leader spoke on how the special session called to focus on redrawing congressional maps to make it harder for Democrats to win should be focused on how people will be impacted by changes to their health care because of the passage of the Trump tax plan. The bill was signed into law on July 4. “This session should be about fixing Texas’ broken health care system,” Leader Jeffries, in part, stated.

Texas Republicans gerrymandered a map that revealed a new map that made many congressional maps. Before Texas redistricting, the breakdown on the Congressional map was 25 GOP seats and 13 Dem seats. After the proposed maps, the breakdown would be 30 GOP-leaning seats and 8 Dem-leaning seats. “It is time we all fight hard… If the Republicans say they’re going to gain five seats in Texas, I say we gain 30 seats in New York, California, and Virginia… in Colorado,” said attorney Marc Elias on MSNBC on July 30. Elians has worked on voting rights law at the pro-democracy organization Democracy Docket.

The fight over the maps in Texas will likely reverberate in other states. California Governor Gavin Newsom is signaling that he is considering a mid-decade round of redistricting. The Texas Tribune reported yesterday that Gov. Newsom “has told aides he will move forward with a plan to redraw his state’s congressional lines to install more Democrats if Texas Republicans pass their own updated map.”

The redistricting issues could cause other political dominos to fall in other states, such as Illinois.

Source: by Jason Roberts Black Press USA

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

The U.S. economy added just 73,000 jobs in July, continuing a three-month trend of sluggish growth, according to the latest data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent, with little movement across key sectors.

While health care and social assistance industries posted modest gains, federal government employment continued its decline, shedding 12,000 jobs in July and bringing total losses in the sector to 84,000 since January. The overall number of unemployed individuals stood at 7.2 million in July. Black workers continued to face a disproportionately high unemployment rate at 7.2 percent—nearly double the rate for white workers, which remained at 3.7 percent. Hispanic workers saw a jobless rate of 5.0 percent, while Asian workers had a jobless rate of 3.9 percent.

Teenagers experienced the highest unemployment rate of any group at 15.2 percent, while adult men and women reported 4.0 percent and 3.7 percent unemployment, respectively. The labor force participation rate remained at 62.2 percent, continuing a yearlong decline of 0.5 percentage points. The employment-population ratio also changed little, standing at 59.6 percent, down 0.4 percentage points over the past year.

The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer rose to 1.8 million in July, an increase of 179,000, and now accounts for nearly one-quarter of all unemployed individuals. Meanwhile, the number of new entrants to the labor market—those looking for their first job—rose by 275,000 to 985,000. Wage growth continued modestly. Average hourly earnings for all private-sector non-farm employees increased by 12 cents to $36.44, marking a 3.9 percent increase over the past 12 months. Production and nonsupervisory workers saw average hourly wages rise by 8 cents to $31.34.

Job gains were most notable in the health care sector, which added 55,000 positions, including 34,000 in ambulatory services and 16,000 in hospitals. Social assistance added 18,000 jobs, primarily driven by a 21,000 increase in individual and family services. But nearly all other major industries—including manufacturing, construction, retail, professional services, and transportation—saw little to no job growth.

The average workweek for all employees edged up slightly to 34.3 hours. For production and nonsupervisory workers, the workweek increased to 33.7 hours. Revisions to previous reports revealed a much weaker job market than initially reported. The May payroll number was revised down by 125,000 to 19,000 jobs, and June’s total was lowered by 133,000 to just 14,000. Combined, these adjustments wiped out 258,000 jobs from prior estimates. The BLS noted that employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance are still counted as employed in their surveys.

The employment report, covering August 2025, is scheduled for release on Friday, September 5.

Source: Black Press USA