There are always a few items we’ve read during the week that deserve more attention but don’t make it into our regular posts. So we bundle them for the Friday roundup.
Here’s this week’s bundle:
Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Trade Policies Threaten Millions of Jobs, U.S. Chamber Says
The Trump administration’s trade policies will hamstring the U.S.’s robust economic growth and threaten as many as 2.6 million jobs, according to a memo from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s top official on Thursday.
The memo—from Tom Donohue, the chamber’s chief executive, to his board of directors—followed news Thursday morning that President Donald Trump’s administration would make good on threats to apply tariffs to steel and aluminum imports from neighbors and allies, including Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
The New York Times: U.S. Added 223,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Rate at 3.8%
The Labor Department released its official hiring and unemployment figures for May on Friday, providing the latest snapshot of the American economy.
■ 223,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street economists had expected an increase of about 190,000, according to Bloomberg.
■ The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent in April and the lowest since early 2000.
The News Tribune (Zeiger op-ed): Dads like me know charter schools must be allowed to stay open
Two things are clear to me as the Supreme Court again deliberates on the future of Washington’s 10 charter schools and their 1,700 students.
First, families are demanding options. Many children are able to get a terrific education in a traditional public school, but children growing up with economic disadvantages often have educational disadvantages as well.
It’s no wonder that parents would seek alternatives. Should we not try to make responsible policies that provide for a more equitable system?
Second, public charter schools have proven their value to students, including minority children and children from low-income families.
The 2017 Census Bureau population estimates shows that population growth in the nation’s largest municipalities (incorporated cities and equivalent) has declined substantially relative to the healthier gains posted earlier in the decade…
Seattle: The city of Seattle has emerged as the decade’s growth leader. Seattle has added 116,000 new residents since the 2010 Census and 17,000 since 2016. The resulting annual growth rates of 2.47 percent and 2.44 percent are the strongest among the municipalities with more than 500,000 population. Seattle accounted for 27 percent of the metropolitan area growth, more than its share of the population, which rose from 17.7 percent in 2010 to 18.7 percent in 2017.
Seattle continues to lead the nation’s major cities in climbing home prices, a dubious honor that the metro area has held for 19 months.
Seattle’s 13 percent year-over-year increase in median home prices in March was trailed by Las Vegas with a 12.4 percent increase and San Francisco with an 11.3 percent increase, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data released Tuesday.
Associated Press: Walmart offers employees new perk: cheap access to college
The company is working with Denver-based startup Guild Education to give employees the chance to obtain a bachelor’s degree in business or supply-chain management. It will cost a dollar a day at one of three nonprofit universities with online programs that have had success working with adult learners: the University of Florida, Brandman University and Bellevue University. It plans to eventually expand to more types of degrees.
It will also offer college-prep classes for workers who need extra help. Walmart is subsidizing the cost of tuition, books and fees….Walmart’s move puts it more in league with Starbucks, which three years ago began offering four years of tuition for an online college degree from Arizona State University.
