Good morning. In this edition:

• 💼 America’s labor data jumps into the spotlight
• 📝 OceanGate implosion findings
• 🎶 Music science with Charlie Puth

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.56-minute read (947 words).

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"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

–Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)

On Friday, President Trump pulled out his favorite catchphrase and fired the top official at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It came after the agency published a weaker-than-expected July jobs report with significant downward revisions in data from previous months.

• The latest BLS report found the US added 73,000 jobs in July—well below expectations of ~100,000—and also recorded 258,000 fewer jobs than initially reported across May and June.
• The revisions left May as having added just 19,000 jobs, and June just 14,000.

Driving the exit: In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed without evidence that BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” and also “rigged” the most recent jobs report to harm Republicans.

• McEntarfer was nominated by then-President Biden to lead the BLS in July 2023, with the Senate voting 86-8 to confirm her in January 2024.

How does the current system work?

Every month, the BLS compiles an employment report from a pair of voluntary monthly surveys:

• One that covers ~60,000 US households…
• …and another covering ~121,000 businesses and government agencies selected to represent all US employers.

The household survey provides demographic data and the US unemployment rate—while the business survey returns data on pay, hours worked, and how many jobs the US economy added or subtracted.

Revisions are commonplace. Since many businesses haven’t finalized their payroll data in time for the BLS’ initial release, jobs reports are routinely revised from month to month as the agency receives more info.

• The agency’s overall collection rate typically rises from ~73% complete at the time of initial release to ~95% after two months.
• To account for this new data, the BLS issues two subsequent updates, or revisions, for each month’s jobs report.

But…The revisions for May and June were far larger than normal. The combined reduction of 258,000 for the two-month period marks the biggest such change since records began (outside of the Covid pandemic).

Big picture: Analysts warn that Trump’s firing of the top BLS jobs official could reduce or eliminate the integrity of the US government’s economic data, which is widely used by investors. If the official data is viewed as politicized, experts predict more companies and investors will rely on private sources like ADP, whose economic reports often diverge from government figures and are widely seen as inferior.

📊 Flash poll: In general, how do you feel about President Trump’s decision to fire the top BLS official after the agency published a weaker-than-expected July jobs report?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 Former X CEO Linda Yaccarino named CEO of telehealth startup eMed, which is designing a population health management platform for GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
• 🇺🇸 US trade deficit falls 16% in June to a nearly two-year low; America’s trade gap with China shrinks to lowest level since 2004.
• 🏛️ White House reportedly prepares to issue executive order that would punish banks for dropping customers for political reasons; President Trump accused JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America of discriminating against him by refusing his personal business. | Trump says pharmaceutical tariffs could eventually reach up to 250%.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with the Make More Money Newsletter

• 📺 ESPN officially acquires NFL Network, rights to NFL RedZone, and other NFL properties in exchange for the league taking a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
• ⚽️ South Korean star Son Heung-Min joins Los Angeles FC from the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur for an MLS-record $26 million transfer fee.
• 🎶 Lady Gaga leads VMA nominations with 12, followed by Bruno Mars (11) and Kendrick Lamar (10). | Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor accuses NYC’s Met of owning his stolen guitar; art museum says no records exist of Taylor’s ownership.

*From our partners: 💰🤔 Most people will stay financially average. Will you?... Travis Chappell's Make More Money Newsletter separates those who make excuses from those who make millions. Weekly insights from entrepreneurs who actually built wealth. Subscribe FREE here.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌊 US Coast Guard deems OceanGate’s Titan submersible implosion a preventable disaster caused by company’s failure to meet safety and engineering standards; report says OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush could have faced criminal investigation if he were alive.
• 🦍 Female mountain gorillas seek out old female friends even after many years apart; discovery sheds light on importance of relationships between members of the same sex.
• 🤖 Google DeepMind unveils Genie 3, an AI-powered model that creates interactive 3D worlds in real time.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🌁 Canada wildfires prompt air quality alerts in at least 10 states across US Midwest and Northeast.
• 🏛️ GOP-led House committee subpoenas Jeffrey Epstein records from DOJ, requests testimony from Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as several former top US officials.
• 🌍 State Department proposes requiring some visa applicants to post up to $15,000 bond to enter US; pilot program would target travelers from countries with high overstay rates or poor screening/vetting procedures.

☝️ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently revisited one of the Hubble Space Telescope's most iconic images—the Ultra Deep Field—in an effort to further probe that region of space.

🤔 Did You Know? Approximately 38.9% of Americans will be diagnosed with at least one form of cancer at some point during their lifetimes, according to National Cancer Institute statistics.

📰 Worth a Read: The wild history behind the word “dude”

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How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Your challenge is to guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

• ⭐ 20: Number of stars in the Paramount Pictures logo.
• ⛳ 350: Number of dimples on the average golf ball. 
• 🕯️ 95%: Percentage of candles that are purchased by women.

🐱 Two cities in Amsterdam have started building tiny staircases to help cats escape the water in case they fall in the canals. There will be hundreds of tiny cat staircases constructed by the end of the year.

🎶 Learn: Music science from Professor Charlie Puth.

📇 Explore: Art painstakingly crafted with just a typewriter.

🥤 Health cost-ious? Stay away from the drink of the summer—a "billion-dollar smoothie."

💰 For money movers: Short Squeez dishes out finance and biz news with a side of laughs to 200k readers. Insider members get VIP access to Wall Street’s secrets. Sign up today.*

*A message from our partners

1. ⭐ Over; the logo has 22 stars.
2. ⛳ Under; the average golf ball has 336 dimples
3. 🕯️ Over; manufacturer surveys show ~96% of candles are purchased by women