'Completely stagnated': Experts say 'extraordinary low' jobs numbers 'ominous' for economy
Economic experts are sounding alarms over the latest jobs report, showing the Trump economy added just 22,000 jobs in August — far below expectations of 75,000. The unemployment rate climbed to 4.3 percent, its highest level since October 2021, near the height of COVID.
“Another WEAK jobs report,” wrote Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal.
“The August jobs report shows the job market is going from frozen to cracking,” Long added. “The only thing keeping this from being a 5-alarm fire is the fact that the labor force grew by +436,000 people. That’s a surprise, especially given immigrants are leaving the U.S. labor force.”
Long also noted that the June report was revised down, to a loss of 13,000 jobs.
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“Jobs growth remained extraordinarily low in August,” noted Steven Rattner, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” economic analyst and chairman of a prominent investment firm.
“The job market continues to slow, and it’s worrying. We’re (just) keeping our head above water (for now),” warned professor of economics Justin Wolfers, a popular cable news guest.
“I know the focus today is on ‘the numbers.’ But lemme share a feeling: I’m worried,” Wolfers added. “The economy was in a good place in late 2024. That’s no longer true. And the trajectory is, at a minimum, concerning. That’s millions of peoples lives, and millions of stories of pain.”
Veteran finance reporter Ron Insana noted that “the composition of the newly unemployed appears to be policy-driven. Government, trade services and manufacturing. Healthcare is keeping the number above water. Those gov’t workers getting severance aren’t yet counted as jobless. That changes next month!”
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Long issued an additional warning.
“The US economy lost -13,000 jobs in June –>The first negative month since December 2020 (!) There’s barely been any job growth in the past 4 months. Almost all the jobs added are in healthcare. Without healthcare, job growth would be NEGATIVE in the past few months.”
Economics writer Joey Politano observed that “US blue-collar job growth has completely stagnated, hitting the lowest level since the onset of the pandemic—manufacturing is currently losing jobs at a rapid pace, and growth in construction/transportation has slowed to a crawl.”
He added, “the labor market is in the worst place since the pandemic.”
Hinting at the upcoming change in leadership at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, professor of economics Howard Forman wrote: “If this is, indeed, a more reliable report, it remains ominous.”
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