The U.S. economy generated several hundred thousand fewer jobs in 2024 and early 2025 than initially estimated, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, suggesting a significantly softer economic performance than earlier figures indicated.
A revised BLS report revealed that American employers created 911,000 fewer positions from April 2024 to March 2025 than previously announced, seemingly the largest adjustment ever made to federal employment statistics. This revision implies that the economy added merely 850,000 jobs during that period, only half of what previous data had suggested.
This notable revision comes after President Donald Trump removed BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month following a disappointing jobs report, claiming that McEntarfer’s data was “rigged” to undermine him and the Republican party. Trump has offered no proof for these allegations, which economists have largely refuted.
Adjusting federal employment figures is a standard procedure called benchmarking, where business surveys and state unemployment records are utilized to update prior statistics for a more precise representation of the job market.
The updated figures, released on Tuesday, are considered preliminary and are expected to be finalized early next year. They offer a more precise insight into the job market preceding Trump’s assumption of office and his implementation of policies and escalation of immigration enforcement, elements that have impacted the labor economy.
A separate monthly jobs report released last week indicated that unemployment rates edged up and job growth decelerated in August, with merely 22,000 jobs created. This report was the first published by the agency following McEntarfer’s termination. It additionally showed that the labor market shed 13,000 jobs in June, marking the initial net employment decrease since late 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump has put forward E.J. Antoni, the Heritage Foundation’s chief economist, to head the BLS. Antoni previously contributed to the conservative organization’s contentious Project 2025 and was observed outside the Capitol during the January 6, 2021, riots. The White House has stated that Antoni was merely a “bystander” during the January 6 attack.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disregarded the August report, stating that the White House anticipates a significant increase in employment, notwithstanding indications of reduced hiring activity.
The U.S. unemployment rate continues to be comparatively low historically, standing at 4.3 percent, despite a modest increase in August.
Last year, federal employment data was adjusted, revealing that 818,000 fewer jobs were generated in the year concluding March 2024 than initially stated, an adjustment that was then the most substantial in over a decade.
