White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday hailed the U.S. economy as “roaring” despite the chaos triggered by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs. While Leavitt celebrates the recent job’s report, the reality of a market in freefall and growing economic instability tells a different story.
“GREAT NEWS! The economy is starting to roar with a strong 228,000 jobs added in the month of March — well ahead of the market’s expectation,” Leavitt posted on X (formerly Twitter), referencing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday.
Even though there’s concern about Trump’s large cuts to the federal workforce, the data showed that about 228,000 jobs were added in March. However, the unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.1% to 4.2%, and the report pointed out that government jobs went down.
Leavitt credited the growth in jobs to Trump’s efforts to bring jobs back to the U.S., but some companies, like steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs and automaker Stellantis (which owns Jeep, Citroen, and Ram), have had to lay off workers because of Trump’s economic policies.
She also pointed to “a sharp increase” in construction jobs, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics said there was actually “little change” in that industry.
The rise in jobs was mainly in health care, social assistance, and transportation. Leavitt also mentioned an increase in warehousing jobs, although the BLS did not explain why that happened.
This jobs report came just two days after Trump announced a 10% tariff on all countries, set to start on April 5. Higher tariffs for several countries in Asia and the European Union are also set to take effect on April 9.
Trump criticized China’s response on his Truth Social platform, saying, “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”
At the same time, many economists and government officials are concerned about the long-term effects of the tariffs and how they might impact Americans. J.P. Morgan economists believe Trump’s policies could lead the U.S. into a recession, with a 60% chance of that happening.
“We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, according to CNN. “While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.”
