The Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its latest jobs report Friday, and it doesn’t appear to be good news for Donald Trump. According to the agency, the U.S. added just 22,000 jobs in August, much less than the 75,000 that economists expected. The unemployment rate also saw a slight increase, to 4.3%. Friday’s report was the first since Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, last month.
Stephanie Ruhle, host of the “11th Hour” and MSNBC senior business analyst, offered her blunt assessment of the report on “Morning Joe.”
“It’s not good,” Ruhle said. “What is it showing us? What we know: The economy is slowing. It does not matter what Donald Trump tells us. It doesn’t matter what [Secretary of Commerce] Howard Lutnick will tell us. The economy is slowing.”
Ruhle predicted the lackluster numbers make it more likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, something the president and his economic advisers have been pushing for. “But they want a rate cut when things are steady,” Ruhle said. “We’re going to get a rate cut because the economy is slowing. That is the reality that we’re living in.”
The “11th Hour” host said that Americans should be skeptical of the administration’s promises that better numbers are around the corner: “Howard Lutnick can say, ‘Oh, you’re going to like the number six months from now.’ When you bring in a Trump ally and cook the books?”
Ruhle said manipulated data won’t “change reality” for the American people: “Things cost more, and the tariffs are making business more difficult in the United States of America. That’s our reality.” The lackluster numbers come as the stock market continues to reach record highs. But, according to Ruhle, Americans shouldn’t look to Wall Street for a read on Trump’s economy. “Remember, when you look at the stock market right now, it’s just seven mega, super tech companies that are overweighted — the kind of companies that aren’t impacted by tariffs, that aren’t impacted by inflation,” she said. Ruhle urged Americans to “look under the hood” at businesses like John Deere, Walmart and Nike. “Real companies that manufacture real things and sell products to real Americans are saying, ‘This is difficult,’ and you can see it because they’re either laying people off or they’re pausing in hiring.” You can watch Ruhle’s full analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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