A Fox Business panel was left “stunned” Friday after a “disappointing” U.S. jobs report for July also revised down the previous two months’ employment growth figures.
The seven analysts were mostly mum as they took in the lower-than-expected figure of 73,000 jobs added in July, with Charles Payne breaking the relative silence by remarking in shock, “and that’s total.” Others appeared to grimace at the news.
Minutes before the report’s release, host Maria Bartiromo said it was expected that 110,000 jobs would be added to the U.S. economy in July.
The massive shortfall is a blow to President Donald Trump and further calls into question his decision to engage in trade wars with longtime U.S. allies, like Canada, and continue his tariff crusade that critics say will only pump up inflation.
The Fox Business panel’s shock at the report quickly turned to spin.
“This disappointing number is a result of all the turmoil over tariffs and trade wars, and that’s sort of good news and bad news, because guess what? In just the last few weeks, Trump has racked off a lot of victories here, as he gets more victories with the Europeans, with Japan, with the U.K.,” said panelist Steve Moore. “I think that’s going to settle things, and then that kind of turmoil will be over.”
Making matters worse for the president, Friday morning’s data also revealed that the last two job reports, which were already considered “soft” by many, had been revised to be a combined 258,000 less than previously estimated.
“I’m just stunned at another number in this report, and that is the downward revision to the June figure from 147,000 to just 14,000,” said panelist Stephanie Pomboy.
Pomboy noted the massive cut made “incredibly weak headline numbers,” clarifying that those figures are the total job growth, not just private jobs.
“So this is a very soft report,” she continued.
Pomboy said the July jobs report often surprises on the positive end, because students, who are off for the summer or have just graduated, can pick up work and juice numbers.
“That sets a very low seasonal bar for the data to clear,” she said.
Payne was quick to point the finger for the poor report at the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who has refused to cut rates despite Trump’s repeated pleas and threats. Bartiromo said she agrees.
“I think this is more about the Federal Reserve again,” Payne said. “We have a bifurcated economy. The Fed is—they have a regressive approach here, right? They’re trying to still clamp down on this economy, but it’s not working. It’s hurting, just it’s hurting 70 percent of the folks out there. Look at delinquencies, look at all of the things that are hurting the average household, I think, and also small businesses.
He continued: “Coming into this year, the biggest question was, how would they even refinance? We’re talking about financing government debt. How do we help the small businesses out there? There are two economies; the Fed is looking at the wealthiest folks out there and thinking it means everyone. And I think that’s hurting the jobs market more than anything else.”
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