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Welcome to record: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly jobs report this morning, and the figures look bad for the U.S. economy or President Donald Trump’s tariff plan.
What happened to the U.S. economy last month? According to BLS, the U.S. added only 22,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate reached 4.3%, the highest in years, although only a small increase from the previous month.
Not only is it less than 75,000 jobs predicted by the 75,000 jobs, but a new revision of data from previous months makes the economy look worse: rather than adding jobs in June, rather than adding jobs in June.
Why is a work report important? The Jobs report is a closely watched indicator of the broader health of the U.S. economy, with Friday’s marked numbers being the latest sign that everything is not good, especially when Trump tariffs, which came into effect in early August, began to have a bigger impact.
Friday’s report is particularly noteworthy given how Trump responded to last month’s report, which also revised a massive decline in employment in May and June. Trump attacked the accuracy of the report and fired BLS director Erika Mcentarfer. To replace her, he Nominated EJ Antoni, a non-qualified right-wing economist (Who may have a hard time getting confirmation from the Senate).
What does this mean? This is the second consecutive job report to publish bad news. The clarity of the troubled economy, without obvious breathing, began to appear. New inflation data for next week could be worse news, as expected if tariffs drive prices up.
One highlight of Trump is that he is now more likely to lower the tax rate he has been looking for and excited to lower, as the Fed meets later this month when the central bank responds to the economic downturn.
So, it’s time to log out…
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