Job growth slowed to a crawl in August, and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in nearly four years at 4.3%, indicating the US labor market is growing stagnant, reports CNN.
The economy added just 22,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
22,000 or 54,000:
54,000 jobs were added to the US economy during the month of August.@allie_canal breaks down the ADP employment report: pic.twitter.com/bz2mNgi6h4
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) September 4, 2025
Shifting Government Jobs Locally Is a Win
Government payrolls declined by 16,000 jobs. Federal government employment fell by 15,000 jobs, while state governments shed 13,000 jobs. Those job losses were partially offset by gains of 12,000 jobs in local government, most of which were in education.
Federal employment is down 97,000 jobs since its January peak, and the BLS noted employees on rapid leave or receiving severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.
Details on the Decline
August’s job report also included a downward revision to June, which showed the US economy lost 13,000 jobs that month. It’s the first negative employment month since December 2020, and it brings to an end what was the second-longest period of employment expansion on record.
Private payrolls added 38,000 jobs in August, well below the gain of 75,000 jobs projected by LSEG.
“The Great American jobs machine has stalled,” Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FwdBonds, wrote in commentary issued Friday.
Oh, It’s 288,000 jobs?
The August jobs report is a mess.
One survey shows 22,000 new jobs. The other shows 288,000.
Add to that nearly 500,000 downward revisions from original reports.
The BLS data is broken. The Senate must confirm @RealEJAntoni for accurate numbers! pic.twitter.com/oejrn0V0yP
— Stephen Moore (@StephenMoore) September 5, 2025
The trajectory of growth at 3 ½ % is very solid:
Counselor to @SecScottBessent @Lavorgnanomics: If you look at capital spend-ing, it grew over 15% in the first half of the year… we saw good growth in industrial equipment, transportation, and that was the result of the fact that the [One Big Beautiful] bill was written to make… pic.twitter.com/eX7ZsbnqQD
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) September 3, 2025
The Market Is Doing Well
The Dow rose 119 points, or 0.26%, Friday morning. The S&P 500 rose 0.41% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.63%, after the weaker-than-expected jobs data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September to stimulate the economy.
Tariffs are delivering historic results for the American people. Even the mainstream media is starting to admit it.
I’ve said total tariff revenue could reach $300B this year, but it could be much higher. Every $300B adds 1% to GDP. With tariffs alone, growth could hit 5%. pic.twitter.com/lR9E1K9e2d
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 2, 2025
Lots of Uncertainty?
“The labor market is coming to a standstill as businesses slow the pace of hiring and await clarity on tariffs and Fed policy,” said LPL chief economist Jeffrey Roach, who noted the Fed is likely to focus on labor market weakness in its rate cut decision.
.25 Interest Rate Cut Coming?
The independent central bank will decide in just a few days whether to cut interest rates to shore up the weakening jobs market and support economic growth or continue to hold rates steady to ward off higher than targeted inflation.
“The labor data is probably not weak enough for the Fed to cut by 50 basis points given inflation persistence, so as of now, our expectations are for a 25 basis point cut.”
Jerome Powell Should Be Embarrassed
“Jerome Powell should be embarrassed by this report because he has not done his job.” – Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer reacts to the August Jobs Report. pic.twitter.com/W9a8ohrnvy
— Varney & Co. (@Varneyco) September 5, 2025
The Big Beautiful:
The American people are still reeling from the affordability crisis brought on by the previous administration.
No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and relief on Social Security will put money back in workers’ pockets and give breathing room to the bottom 50% of earners hit… pic.twitter.com/jwB9wNaVqn
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 2, 2025
I can think of 475 new jobs now that Hyundai/LG got caught employing mostly Korean illegals in their US taxpayer supported Georgia factory. But they’ll probably bring in Somalis and still not hire Americans.
The Fed is a partisan private company that is purposely hurting American workers. END THE FED!