Raising ‘a Fuss and a Holler’ About the Labor Market

Young American men had a hot, hot, hot summer in the labor market—as long as you count working as a hot summer.

A larger share of native-born men in their early twenties found themselves employed than in any of the previous five summers. They gained ground in construction, where employment among foreign-born workers was falling. They also became more likely to participate in the labor force and less likely to be unemployed.

This is an awkward development for the argument that there is no sign of improvement in employment for native-born workers. Especially since some of the supporting evidence turns up in the calculations of one of the economists making that argument.

Earlier this month, we took issue with claims that all the net job creation in the Trump economy was going to women. Various pundits and economists seemed to think this was a disaster from the perspective of the Trump administration, which they imagined to be attempting to construct a “male breadwinner economy.” Others just seemed to think it should hurt Trump if his economy was not benefiting men in the labor force.

So, we pointed out that the aggregate concealed gains by American-born men (while also indicating that MAGA was perfectly happy to see job gains for women). Between January 2025 and August 2026, the household survey showed native-born male employment rising while foreign-born male employment fell, largely offsetting the gains. A small net gain can conceal quite a lot of movement underneath it.