This summer marked a turning point for the U.S. economy, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes, with the days of boom-like jobs numbers appearing firmly in the past.

• 🤷 Employers are pulling back as they adjust to the Trump economy's heightened uncertainty, costlier foreign goods and diminished labor supply amid immigration crackdowns.

Driving the news: Today's jobs data confirmed that the weak hiring in last month's report was more than a head-fake.

• 🏥 The economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, with health care among the few sectors showing increasing employment.

⚠️ Once again, the real stunner came in the revisions, which showed the economy's 53-month job growth streak ended in May.

• 📉 Employers shed 13,000 jobs in June, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the first employment contraction since December 2020.

The debate among economic policymakers is why hiring is so lackluster: less demand for workers, less supply of them or a combination.

• 👷 Harsher immigration policy is fueling huge shifts in population trends, making it harder to know how many new workers we need for a steady unemployment rate.

🔬 For that reason, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell says he's more closely watching the unemployment rate.

• It edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3% in August, the highest level since 2021.
• Of those unemployed, roughly 26% have been jobless for six months or longer — the largest share since February 2022.

The other side: National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett tried to blame the weak jobs numbers on the BLS.

• 📺 "One of the things we know is that they've been really, at BLS, struggling with bad response rates," Hassett said on Fox News.

Go deeper.

Homeland Security arrested as many as 475 workers, most of them South Korean nationals, at the construction site for a battery plant at a Hyundai campus in Georgia. The immigration raid underscores the inherent tension in President Trump's goals, Axios' Joann Muller writes.

• The administration's fundamental economic policy is that companies should build factories in America.

🚙 It's particularly keen on automakers expanding U.S. production.

• 👷 But you can't build factories if the workers get arrested.

🚔 Catch up quick: Several hundred workers at Hyundai's joint battery plant with LG Energy Solution and others in Ellabell, Ga., near Savannah, were arrested yesterday morning by DHS.

• ⏸️ Hyundai and the joint venture say they're cooperating with law enforcement, and construction has been paused.

It's believed many of those arrested were South Koreans on temporary assignment in the U.S. to set up the plant.

• The U.S. government is pressuring companies to hire locals, but South Korean companies say they can't find the right workers here.

🇺🇸 "Any foreign workers brought in for specific projects must enter the United States legally and with proper work authorizations," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson tells Axios.

• 🇰🇷 "The rights of our citizens must not be unfairly infringed upon," South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Go deeper.

1. 🇮🇱 The Israeli military flattened high-rise buildings in Gaza City that it claims were used by Hamas for military purposes, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. Go deeper.
2. 🍎 NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he's willing to listen to opportunities, but hasn't received any "formal offers" amid speculation that the Trump administration may give him a job in exchange for abandoning his reelection bid. Go deeper.
3. 🚫 President Trump dismissed demands for additional Jeffrey Epstein files as a Democratic "hoax," despite many Republicans demanding more transparency. Go deeper.
4. 👮 The LAPD and the California Highway Patrol will protect former Vice President Harris after President Trump ended her Secret Service detail. Go deeper.
5. 📺 PBS announced a 15% staff reduction after federal funding cuts that stripped it and NPR of nearly $1.1 billion in funding. The cuts will immediately impact 34 employees. PBS has eliminated close to 100 positions over the past several months. Go deeper.

Lego's new Death Star is the company's most expensive set ever, running nearly $1,000.

• 🚀 The 9,023-piece build shows a cross section of the most feared weapon in the Star Wars universe, with iconic scenes like the trash compactor, hangar bay and Emperor's throne room.
• ☄️ Also included: 38 Star Wars "minifigs," including Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo and more.

Orders start Oct. 1 for Lego Insiders, and Oct. 4 for everyone else.

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