Since the start of the second Trump administration, analysts have watched to see the impact his policies would have on the American economy and labor market. After waves of tariffs imposed uncertainty on markets, the effects are becoming clear – and the results aren’t good.
Initial preliminary job growth figures for May and June showed that the economy was in good shape, CNBC reported, with agencies reporting 144,000 new jobs in May and 147,000 in June. However, as numbers for July came out, the numbers were revised down – well down.
Optimism in the market was muted in response to revisions that showed that those reported job gains were overstated. In fact, 258,000 of those jobs did not actually exist. Last week’s employment report reduced May’s growth to just 19,000 new jobs and corrected June’s numbers to just 14,000 jobs.
To make matters worse, initial July growth showed 73,000 jobs added, a figure that missed a reduced estimate of 100,000.
The federal unemployment rate rose to 4.2% with these job numbers. They were the lowest two months of combined job growth since at least the start of 2022, and upon their release, the stock market took a significant dip.
The Associated Press noted the job market’s struggle to contend with tariffs and other economic policies imposed by the Trump administration. It found that the average hiring per month in the first half of 2025 was down 23% from the same period in 2024 and 68% below figures reported in post-pandemic recovery months.
In fact, the combined growth seen in May, June and July under these numbers, upon review of labor market figures, is the lowest seen since the pandemic itself. Other than results from 2020 during the pandemic and the final year of Trump’s first presidency, the numbers are the worst three-month stretch since 2010.
The AP noted long-term employment reached a three-year low, while 1.82 million people reported being out of work, the most since December 2021.
NPR noted the downturn in the labor market is hitting young workers especially hard. New college graduates are experiencing an unemployment rate close to 6%, while young workers without college degrees have a rate of nearly 7%.
In response to the news, which came the same day more tariffs went into effect, CNBC reported Trump ordered the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to be fired.
