Topline<\/p>\n
The U.S. job market was weaker than originally reported over the previous year, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which previously drew the ire of President Donald Trump after downward revisions to jobs data. <\/p>\n
President Donald Trump criticized job reports featuring downward revisions in recent months. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Key Facts<\/p>\n
Employers added 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months ending March 2025, totaling about 849,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after data previously showed the economy added about 1.76 million jobs.<\/p>\n
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said<\/a> Sunday a downward revision as large as 800,000 jobs was expected, with estimates between 650,000 and 775,000 fewer jobs by analysts at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Comerica Bank and Mizuho Securities.<\/p>\n Bessent and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett criticized the BLS ahead of the agency\u2019s revisions, as Bessent said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure what these people who collect the data have been doing,\u201d while Hassett suggested<\/a> recent downward revisions are \u201cwhy we need new and better data.\u201d <\/p>\n Big Number<\/p>\n 818,000. That\u2019s the downward revision the BLS issued last year for the same annual data, lowering the average monthly job growth for the 12 months ending March 2024 from 242,000 to 174,000.<\/p>\n Will Revised Jobs Data Impact The Fed\u2019s Rate Cut Decision?<\/p>\n The Federal Reserve will likely take the jobs data revision into account ahead of its next policymaking meeting on Sept. 17, as the central bank appeared to consider last year\u2019s downward revision before cutting rates during its September 2024 meeting. The Fed has relied on a dual mandate of stabilizing inflation while maximizing employment, and August\u2019s jobs report\u2014signaling<\/a> a higher-than-expected jump for unemployment to 4.3%\u2014appeared to foreshadow a looming rate cut. Investors traded at odds of 99.1% for an interest rate cut of at least a quarter-point shortly after the report, according to CME\u2019s FedWatch tool. <\/p>\n What To Watch For<\/p>\n Consumer price index data will be released on Thursday, as Wall Street expects inflation to tick up to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, according to FactSet. Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise\u2019s chief market strategist, wrote Monday if the inflation data is worse than expected, it would \u201clikely throw cold water\u201d on a larger rate cut by the Fed.<\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n Trump ousted BLS chief Erika McEntarfer after the agency\u2019s jobs report included the largest two-month downward revision since 1968 and signs of cooling for the labor market. Trump, who also claimed McEntarfer had manipulated jobs data during the 2024 election, has targeted the BLS in recent weeks and alleged the agency had \u201crigged\u201d its data. Some of Trump\u2019s advisers are preparing a report detailing errors with the agency\u2019s jobs data, which includes a historical overview of job data revisions, people familiar with the matter told<\/a> the Wall Street Journal. Economists have backed the BLS, despite Trump\u2019s criticisms: The National Association for Business Economists said in a statement<\/a> the group of global analysts and data scientists \u201cstands firmly with the dedicated economists and statisticians at BLS and across the federal statistical agencies.\u201d Trump tapped Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to succeed McEntarfer in a move condemned by Democrats, who called Antoni \u201ccompletely unqualified.\u201d NABE, which called on policymakers to \u201cdefend the integrity of the U.S. statistical system,\u201d added the BLS requires a \u201cknowledgeable and qualified commissioner\u201d who can \u201cprotect its trusted professional staff from political pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesUnemployment Hits 4.3%\u2014Worse Than ExpectedBy Ty Roush<\/a>ForbesPrivate Hiring Declines As Labor Market Slows SharplyBy Ty Roush<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline The U.S. job market was weaker than originally reported over the previous year, according to a preliminary…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":213020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[12585,64,69,1597,267,12857,420,29053,34523,18244,277,766,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-213019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-bls","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-federal-reserve","12":"tag-interest-rates","13":"tag-job-market","14":"tag-jobs","15":"tag-jobs-data","16":"tag-kevin-hassett","17":"tag-scott-bessent","18":"tag-trump","19":"tag-unemployment","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115174810852037064","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}