U.S. hiring slowed further in August as President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade, immigration and federal layoff policies took a widening toll on a rapidly softening labor market.
Employers added a disappointing 22,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% to 4.3%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Sept. 5.
Also worrisome: Payroll gains for June and July were revised down by a total 21,000 and now reveal the economy shed 13,000 jobs in June - the first job losses since the depths of the pandemic in December 2020.
The report would appear to cement a widely expected interest rate cut - the first since December - at the Federal Reserve’s September 16-17 meeting, economists said.
Previous head of this reporting agency was fired for “being political”. But by exaggerating jobs numbers in June and later months, he was being political in supporting “Trump economy”/tariffs. If June numbers had originally been negative, public would have called Trump a crackhead for his trade policies.