The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its first monthly jobs report on Friday since President Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer as commissioner, following a sour report a month ago.
The latest report showed that hiring in August continued to slow as tariffs and layoffs within the federal government took hold.
The U.S. added just 22,000 jobs in August, far below the average. Over the last decade, the U.S. has averaged more than 146,000 jobs added per month. The report also showed a major slowdown in hiring that began in May and continued through the summer.
In a typical four-month period, the U.S. would generally add about 585,000 jobs. But from May through August, just 107,000 jobs were added.
Revised numbers indicated that June 2025 marked the first month in five years that the U.S. actually lost jobs.
The report also shows that the percentage of Americans working has dropped 0.4% over the last year.
The latest numbers could play a major role in whether interest rates go down later this month. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the fact that the BLS has had to make major revisions to its job numbers is why President Trump sought new leadership at the agency.
President Trump has urged the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
The Fed has justified holding rates steady because hiring remained robust at the start of the year, while inflation was somewhat elevated. However, the slowdown in hiring could push the Fed to cut rates—despite inflation, if anything, rising again in recent months.
President Trump posted about interest rates following the report's release.
"Jerome 'Too Late' Powell should have lowered rates long ago. As usual, he’s 'Too Late!' President Trump wrote.
One bit of positive news for workers is that average weekly wages have increased by about 3.3% in the last year, slightly outpacing inflation.
