The U.S. economy just got another punch to the gut — and it’s landing squarely on President Donald Trump’s economic record.
Employers added a meager 22,000 jobs in August, a staggering slowdown from the already underwhelming 79,000 in July. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, the highest since 2021. It’s a sobering reminder that the labor market — once the crown jewel of post-COVID recovery — is now flashing warning signs under Trump’s second-term policies.
The Labor Department’s report paints a grim picture: hiring is stalling, layoffs are creeping upward, and job creation has nearly ground to a halt in nearly every sector except healthcare. The report confirms what many economists have feared — the economy is cooling fast, and Trump’s policies are making things worse.
Trump’s ongoing trade wars and tariff threats have created a toxic cloud of uncertainty for businesses. While inflation and interest rates have played their part, it’s the administration’s erratic policy choices that are giving hiring managers pause.
“The labor market is showing signs of cracking,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “It’s not a red siren alarm yet, but the signs keep growing that businesses are starting to cut workers.”
So far in 2025, the economy is averaging just 85,000 new jobs a month. That’s down nearly 50% from 2024 — and miles away from the 400,000-a-month hiring boom the country saw during the 2021–2023 rebound.
Worse, nearly 80% of this year’s private sector job gains have come from a single industry: healthcare and social assistance — an area with limited spillover effects for broader economic growth. This isn’t a strong, diversified recovery. It’s a lifeline barely keeping things afloat.
If Trump had a strategy to address the slowdown, he didn’t show it. Instead, after July’s grim report, he fired Erika McEntarfer, the respected head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Her crime? Reporting the numbers.
Trump falsely accused her of cooking the books to hurt him politically. He has since nominated E.J. Antoni, a partisan ideologue, to take her place — raising concerns that the White House is trying to politicize what should be independent economic data.
At a Thursday night dinner with tech donors — hours before the latest report dropped — Trump dismissed the data altogether. “The real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now,’’ he said.
Translation: Don’t trust the bad news. Wait for better numbers that might — maybe — come later. It’s the kind of vague deflection that doesn’t inspire much confidence, especially as the storm clouds thicken.
The damage isn’t limited to topline numbers. Layoffs are on the rise, with jobless claims hitting their highest level since June. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports nearly 900,000 job cuts already this year — far exceeding the total for all of 2024.
Adding insult to injury, revisions to May and June figures slashed 258,000 jobs off the books. The average hiring rate from May through July was just 35,000 jobs a month — a number that would’ve sounded catastrophic just a year ago.
These revisions aren’t political sabotage; they’re standard procedure due to late or corrected responses from employers. But that didn’t stop Trump from lashing out.
Data collection is becoming harder across the globe, with response rates plummeting post-COVID. Even the UK recently suspended publication of its official unemployment rate due to a lack of reliable data. The U.S. isn’t immune.
“I remember being at an international conference where the chief statistician of the Russian Republic was complaining about how the Russians don’t want to complete their surveys,” said William Beach, former BLS commissioner. “What could he do? If you can’t compel completion in Russia, you can’t compel it anywhere.’’
The numbers don’t lie — but the reaction to them might. Trump’s approach to economic management — laced with trade wars, personnel purges, and blame games — has left the U.S. job market weakened and wobbly. The hiring slowdown is real, the uncertainty is growing, and confidence is evaporating.
While presidents can’t control every economic lever, they can set the tone. Right now, Trump’s tone is dismissive, defensive, and disconnected from the reality facing American workers. And if this jobs report is any indication, the economy under his watch isn’t just slowing — it’s veering off course.
