A looming federal government shutdown is slated to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement on the House Republicans' hostage taking:

As of today, it is clear that the Republican Party and the Tea Party have become one and the same when it comes to federal fiscal policy. House Republicans have decided that they will shut down critical public services, stiff public servants, hold America’s credit rating hostage and kill off jobs because they are upset that President Obama decisively defeated Mitt Romney last November. That some Republicans are participating in this fiasco against their better judgment does not obscure their responsibility. All responsible voices must speak and act against policy making by hostage taking.

In its new briefing paper, A Cautionary Tale: The True Cost of Austerity and Inequality in Europe, Oxfam compares Europe’s current austerity measures to the failed “structural adjustment” programs imposed on developing countries by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in the 1980s and 1990s. The conclusion?  “Europe is facing a lost decade. An additional 15 [million] to 25 million people across Europe could face the prospect of living in poverty by 2025 if austerity measures continue,” says the report.

The current tracking of Congress’ popularity shows that only 15% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Now, House Speaker John Boehner struck another tone deaf moment at a political fundraiser in Idaho when he warned that when Congress returns in September, he will lead Republicans in holding up the government’s business to pick a fight with President Obama over the nation’s debt ceiling. More than 11.5 million Americans are out actively looking for work, while the economy languishes with 2 million fewer jobs than at the end of 2007, more than five and a half years ago. Median family income remains thousands of dollars below the level it reached in 2007. And thousands of America's workers are staging strikes this week to raise their low-wage pay to something respectable. Americans want more jobs and a raise in pay now. How does a showdown on the integrity of the United States of America and paying its bills help address jobs and pay now? They don’t.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest report on the job market on Aug. 2. It had some good news for African Americans: The black unemployment rate in July dipped to 12.6%, its lowest level since January 2009. The BLS also reported that since August 2012 the unemployment rate for adult black men (those older than 20) remains below its 14.4% level in January 2009 and was reported at 12.5% in July. More importantly, the share of black men holding jobs continues to rebound from its record low of 56.5% in 2011 to 59.2%, almost equal its level of 60.4% in January 2009. That was the good news.

After budget cuts were put into effect because of the sequester, the Department of Defense began implementing furloughs for 650,000 civilian employees that would cost those workers 11 days of salary at a time when the economy is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has since announced that the number of furlough days will be cut from 11 to six. AFGE applauded the change but said it didn't go far enough.

While many Republicans and conservatives have minimized the impact of the sequester and its effects on America's working families, nearly 40% of people say it has hurt them personally. Here are 25 ways the sequester is affecting people's lives, not just right now, but more and more over time.

The nation’s economy added 195,000 new jobs in June and the jobless rate remained at 7.6%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).But economists say the growth rate is far too slow to fuel a healthy jobs recovery.

This report originally appeared on the Metropolitan Washington [D.C.] Council, AFL-CIO's Union City newsletter. 

Dozens of area federal workers carrying bag lunches staged an "eat-in" yesterday to demonstrate the financial impact of sequestration on workers and on the businesses they patronize. 

Join Damon Silvers, director of policy and special counsel for the AFL-CIO, June 5 from 3–4 p.m. EDT for a live Twitter chat that will explode the economic myths peddled by the “austerians” and offer a range of alternatives and an economic vision that will work for working families. 

Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. Most had forecast growth of at least 3 percent (on an annualized basis) in the first quarter. But we learned this morning (in the Commerce Department’s report) it grew only 2.5 percent.