President Donald Trump has attributed the recent uptick in the unemployment rate to a reduction in government jobs. He also highlighted that all new jobs are being created in the private sector.
Trump Hails Private Sector Employment Uptick
Trump, during the Most Favored Nation drug pricing press conference on Friday, acknowledged the rise in the unemployment rate but emphasized that “the only reason” it happened was due to a significant decrease in government jobs.
He underscored that the reduction of government jobs has been unprecedented and will continue. The president explained that the federal workforce had “millions and millions” of people having jobs who “never even showed up.”
Trump further claimed that he “could reduce unemployment to 2%,1% or practically zero by just hiring people” into the federal government, even though these jobs are unnecessary. “We don’t need 10 people to fill one job,” he stated.
The president stated, “100% of our new jobs are in the private sector. So this is for the last number of months…That’s the way to make America great again.”
Trump also suggested that the private sector job growth would further improve with the ongoing construction of new buildings, AI, and auto plants across the country.
Jobs Growth Slows Amid Federal Workforce Cuts
Trump’s comments come on the heels of the U.S. labor market showing signs of cooling in November as job growth narrowly met already subdued expectations, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, a four-year high.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 64,000 in November, driven by stronger-than-expected private-sector hiring, which added 69,000 jobs, as Trump highlighted.
However, a 5,000-job drop in government employment offset some of the gains, keeping overall job growth muted. The reduction in the overall federal workforce comes due to the government shutdown as well as Trump’s sweeping job cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Labor Market Slowdown Unlocks Recession Fears
Leading economists and experts have raised concerns about the slowing U.S. labor market following the release of the November data. Economist Justin Wolfers said it is unclear whether the economy is already in a recession, but noted that employment trends point to a clear slowdown. He also stated that the economy created “zero jobs” since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. However, Wolfers’ claims could not be confirmed by data.
Furthermore, the U.S. labor market has been experiencing a crisis, with layoffs soaring and hiring collapsing as Artificial intelligence (AI) is quietly replacing workers at an unprecedented pace, as indicated by private-sector reports.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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