If hunting for a job this year feels punishing, you’re not alone—and new employment numbers back that up. New data from the Labor Department shows that in 2025, the American economy is starting to fray at the seams.
For the first time since late 2020, the U.S. is losing jobs. A revision to June’s employment report revealed that the U.S. actually lost 13,000 jobs that month. The previous report showed a gain of 14,000 jobs, a figure that was revised down by 27,000 jobs lost in the new report.
July’s data was revised up by 6,000 to 79,000 jobs gained that month, but the June dip into negative territory is an ominous red flag for the American economy that captures what many job seekers are seeing on the ground in 2025.
The jobs report is the first since President Trump fired the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over an unfavorable report that showed slow hiring in July and adjusted numbers in prior months downward. “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” Trump said on Truth Social, after firing the longtime government employee.
In August, U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs as unemployment inched up to 4.3%, the highest rate since 2021. When setting the pandemic-era unemployment spike aside as an outlier, last month saw the largest share of Americans unemployed since September 2017. According to the report, more than 25% of unemployed workers have been without a job for longer than a six month stretch.
Trump lashes out against new jobs numbers
Responding to the jobs report on Truth Social, President Trump blamed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for the dismal numbers. “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should have lowered rates long ago,” Trump wrote.
Trump has repeatedly bashed Powell over the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold off on lowering interest rates, an approach intended to keep a lid on inflation. Prices on goods and services soared after 2020, sending interest rates up and putting the Fed on high alert.
While Trump gave the jobs report revision his customary conspiratorial spin, revisions to employment numbers are completely routine and aren’t published with politics in mind. An FAQ section in the report even addresses the issue of revisions, explaining that by including data that rolls in after each report, the Labor Department is able to paint a more accurate picture of the American labor market—not a more politicized one.
“The establishment survey revises its initial monthly estimates twice, in the immediately succeeding 2 months, to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey and recalculated seasonal adjustment factors,” according to the report.
A year defined by chaos
Trump wants to pin the bad jobs news on Powell, but the chaos of the U.S. economy in 2025 at least partly has the president to blame. Trump took office and immediately cut the federal workforce to the bone, leaving tens of thousands of workers scrambling into other sectors for employment.
Trump’s endless barrage of tariffs loaded extra weight onto already high consumer prices while sowing chaos and confusion in global trade, with no clear benefit. To make matters even more complex, courts may unwind some of Trump’s haphazardly laid plans, which could force the federal government to pay back taxes it has already collected.
Against that backdrop, the American economy is a walking contradiction. There are more unemployed people than there are open jobs, but investors are happier than ever. Job seekers forced to wade through a process redefined by AI are drowning in a sea of thousands of auto-generated résumés flung at every open position. Meanwhile, companies boast about slashing their human workforces in favor of AI, pulling up the ladder for anyone seeking entry-level work.
Concerns around inflation still loom, but given the latest jobs report, the Federal Reserve will almost certainly move to cut interest rates soon. That move won’t be designed to please Trump, but rather to take some weight off of the economy before it sinks under the collective weight of so much chaos.
