Donald Trump’s contentious decision to fire the U.S. statistics chief has done little to stem an economic slump, with the latest jobs report showing only 22,000 jobs were added in August – well below expectations.
Revised data showed a net loss in jobs in June, the first time that has happened since the pandemic effectively stalled the economy in December 2020.
One month after Trump sacked the Bureau of Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in response to weak job numbers, new figures also show the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent, and that hiring is slowing down.
“The jobs market is cracking,” analyst Saira Malik, chief investment officer of Nuveen, said on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
The numbers released on Friday mark the first such release since a dismal jobs report last month prompted Trump to fire McEntarfer, the bureaucrat in charge of them, and claim the data was politically manipulated.
But, in a silver lining for the President, the downturn could mean he may soon get his wish for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates after months of pressure on central bank chairman Jerome Powell.
This story will be updated.
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