US Job Growth Stalls as Tariffs and Inflation Weigh on Economy

The once-robust US job market has slowed sharply during President Donald Trump’s first seven months back in office, with hiring collapsing and inflation ticking upward as his tariff policies take hold.

The latest Labor Department report showed employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent the highest in nearly four years. Factories and construction firms shed workers, and revised figures revealed the economy lost 13,000 jobs in June, marking the first monthly decline since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020.

The data underscores the growing gap between the booming economy Trump pledged and the more sluggish reality. While the White House has urged Americans to be patient, Trump has suggested stronger job numbers may be a year away, pointing to new factories under construction as a sign of future growth.

Economic concerns, once a political strength for Trump, have become a persistent vulnerability. Public approval of his economic leadership has fallen from 56 percent in early 2020 to 38 percent in July, according to recent polling. The president has blamed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates more aggressively, arguing that lower borrowing costs would spur hiring despite warnings that such moves could fuel inflation.

Democrats, meanwhile, have pinned the slowdown on Trump’s tariffs and economic policies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the latest jobs report “a blaring red light warning” that the administration is “squeezing the life out of our economy.”

Key indicators highlight the strain: the Black unemployment rate has climbed to 7.5 percent, it’s highest since October 2021, despite Trump’s 2024 pledge to protect “Black jobs” through immigration crackdowns. Since his April tariff announcement, manufacturers have cut 42,000 jobs and builders have reduced payrolls by 8,000 a stark contrast to promises of a manufacturing revival.

With the Federal Reserve expected to consider a rate cut in September, the coming months will test whether policy shifts can reverse the downturn or if the slowdown will deepen further.