The initial jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) since President Donald Trump’s actions revealed that the U.S. labor market expanded more slowly than economists had anticipated, and actually recorded job losses for the first time since the pandemic earlier in the summer.
The report, released on Friday, indicated that employers added merely 22,000 jobs in August, signaling a continued deceleration in hiring. The unemployment rate also saw a slight increase to 4.3%, reaching its highest point —though still low when viewed historically.
This report also revised down previous employment data for June, showing that instead of creating 27,000 jobs that month, as the BLS previously reported, 13,000 positions were eliminated.
The President dismissed BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the July jobs report, which similarly showed fewer jobs added than projected. He alleged that the agency was manipulating employment figures to portray his Administration negatively. In her place, he has nominated E.J. Antoni of the Heritage Foundation to lead the agency. “Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump stated on Truth Social at that time. The President has not offered any proof to substantiate his accusations, and these claims have been widely disputed by economists.
In what appeared to be an effort to mitigate the impact of potentially weak job numbers before Friday’s report, Trump informed the press that the “real numbers” would not become available until next year. “I think you’ll see job numbers that are going to be absolutely incredible,” the President remarked on Thursday. “Right now, it’s a lot of construction numbers, but you’re going to see job numbers like our country has never seen before.”
Antoni has previously put forward the idea of critiquing the accuracy of the agency’s monthly jobs report, asserting that its methodology is flawed.
Trump vowed during his campaign that his Administration would bring jobs back to the U.S. However, economists have expressed worries about his constantly evolving tariff policy generating economic and market instability.
An analysis of the job market published on Thursday by consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that layoffs surged by nearly 40% in August, resulting in an estimated loss of almost 86,000 positions. Companies attributed these job reductions to a variety of factors, including existing market and economic conditions, restructuring initiatives, and reductions to the federal workforce by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Friday’s report showed that federal government jobs experienced a further decline of 15,000 in August.
Nonetheless, some sectors appear to be resilient: The health care industry, for instance, created 31,000 jobs last month.
