FROM THE HILL: The U.S. economy added 22,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in August, according to the first federal jobs report released since President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Economists expected the U.S. to gain 75,000 jobs last month with the unemployment rate rising slightly to 4.3 percent, up from 4.2 percent in July, according to consensus projections.
Layoffs surged nearly 40 percent last month, with employers eliminating 85,979 positions — the largest August hit since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to research released from Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Thursday.
Private employers added just 54,000 jobs in August, indicating a slowdown in the hiring market, according to ADP data released Thursday morning.
Job openings also fell in July to 7.18 million, marking the first time job seekers have outnumbered open positions since 2021.
The August jobs report comes amid distrust between the BLS, a non-political statistical agency, and Trump. Trump fired former BLS Director Erika McEntarfer after the July jobs report, which showed dismal numbers and large downward revisions to previous reports.
The net result had the U.S. adding only 106,000 jobs between May and July, “a third of what economists considered the bare minimum number of jobs to keep unemployment stable,” The Hill reports.
Trump said McEntarfer and the BLS were fabricating job numbers to help Democrats look better ahead of the 2024 election. But economists and BLS veterans defended the data, noting that it would be impossible to manipulate the report given the amount of data that must align for the results to make sense.
According to the BLS, revisions in July were necessary after late reporting in the public education sector. The agency also said it is facing declining response rates to its surveys.
Ahead of the August report, Trump had already cast doubt on the new round of BLS data.
“They come out tomorrow, but the real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now on,” Trump said at a dinner with tech sector executives on Thursday.
The BLS noted that it was experiencing “technical difficulties” minutes before the jobs figures were due to be published, but the report was released on time.
Newsweek reports:
Friday’s jobs report was the focus of heightened attention due to last month’s disappointing data as well as the leadership changes it led to.
The figures are likely to exacerbate existing concerns over the health of the U.S. labor market, a key point of reference for the Federal Reserve as it weighs up the appropriate monetary policy to ensure maximum employment without exacerbating America’s inflationary struggles.
Noteworthy portions of the report:
- Government employment declined by 16,000 jobs.
- Federal government employment fell by 15,000 jobs.
- State government employment fell by 13,000 jobs.
- Local government employment gained 12,000 jobs.
- Manufacturing employment lost 12,000 jobs.
- Healthcare employment added 31,000 jobs (this was below the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the past 12 months).
- Social assistance employment gained 16,000 jobs.
- Oil and gas extraction, mining, and quarrying employment declined by 6,000 jobs.
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