The US economy added nearly a million fewer jobs than previously thought in the year ending March 2025. While that would be concerning for the country, it would be music to President Donald Trump\u2019s ears. Here is how.<\/p>\n
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has said that the economy added nearly a million fewer jobs between March 2024 and March 2025. While that would be concerning for the economy, it would be music to President Donald Trump\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n
In its annual \u2018benchmarking\u2019 exercise, the BLS said that 911,000 fewer jobs were added to the economy in the year ending March 2025. The downward revision \u2014way above the projected downward revision of around 700,000\u2014 was the worst in 25 years.<\/p>\n
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Sectors like leisure and hospitality (-176,000), professional services (-158,000), and retail (-126,000) took the biggest hits, as per the downward revision.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a raw basis, -911K is worse than any figure, preliminary or final, seen since at least 2000. On a percentage basis, the revision was -0.6 per cent, in line with the preliminary benchmark revision we saw for 2009, not exactly a great comp,\u201d Omair Sharif, President of Inflation Insights, was quoted as saying by Sherwood News.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ: Even as this revision is huge, such a revision exercise is annual affair and is called \u2018benchmarking\u2019. The exercise takes place as BLS\u2019 monthly reports are essentially estimates. Once a year, the BLS reconciles these estimates with records from state unemployment offices to get more accurate figures.<\/p>\n Fewer jobs are bad for economy, good for Trump<\/strong><\/p>\n As the time period covered by the BLS\u2019 revision covers the final months of former President Joe Biden\u2019s term as well, Trump would likely use the revision to advance his claim that the poor state of economy is not his doing but that of his predecessor.<\/p>\n Trump would also use it to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. There have been Fed Governor Christopher J Waller last month cited the benchmark revision \u2014the report had not yet been published\u2014 as one reason that he supported cutting interest rates at the central bank\u2019s meeting later this month.<\/p>\n Now, after the downward annual revision of 911,000 jobs and poor monthly job reports lately, the case for rate cuts has become stronger.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n
\nTrump promised ‘golden age’ for America, jobs data show economy is ‘flashing yellow’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nsignals from the Fed<\/a> that poor jobs data could lead to rate cuts.<\/p>\n