The BLS has released the August job numbers and they continue the dismal trend that started in May where the numbers were well below the required number needed to keep up with population growth. The revised numbers for June even showed a decline in jobs for that month.

You can read the BLS press release here that has a more complete breakdown of the data.

The US jobs market stalled over the summer, adding just 22,000 jobs in August and continuing a slowdown in the labor market as businesses adjusted to disruptions caused by tariffs.

The latest jobs report also contained more bad news. The US lost 13,000 jobs in June, according to the latest survey, the first time it went into the negative since December 2020.

The unemployment rate for August inched up to 4.3%, the highest it’s been since 2021.

The healthcare sector added 31,000 last month but most other sectors were flat or lost jobs.
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The report highlighted worrying trends:

• Federal employment dropped 15,000 jobs in August, totaling 97,000 jobs lost since January.
• Manufacturing jobs went down by 12,000 in August and have tumbled 78,000 for the year.
• The racial unemployment gap widened in August. Black Americans are seeing an unemployment rate of 7.5%, compared to 6.1% last August. The unemployment rate for White Americans is 3.7%.

The closely watched data comes from a monthly survey of employers conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which has been under attack from Donald Trump after it revised its findings last month, showing that hiring in early summer was much weaker than initially reported.

Last month the BLS slashed the number of new jobs created in May and June by by more than 250,000. The figures – revised when the bureau received more reports from businesses and government agencies – showed hiring over the summer was far weaker than first reported. The revised figures for May and June were 19,000 and 14,000, respectively – the lowest since the pandemic.

Those figurees were revised again this month. The BLS revised June’s tally down by 27,000, from +14,000 to -13,000, and the change for July was revised up by 6,000, from +73,000 to +79,000. Employment in June and July combined was 21,000 lower than previously reported.

Trump has not responded as yet to these dismal numbers that suggest that his erratic policies are tanking the economy and risking a recession. Recall how he fired the commissioner of the BLS Erika McEntarfer after last month’s terrible numbers, claiming (without any evidence of course) that they had been rigged in order to make him look bad. He has nominated a conservative ally with roots in Project 2025 to head the BLS but as he awaits confirmation, the bureau is being run by the deputy commissioner Bill Wiatrowski, who is a well-regarded career professional, which means that he is likely to get the axe soon as well.