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Maddow Blog-Job growth held steady in May, but new signs of economic trouble emerge
U.S. job growth over the first five months of 2025 is the worst since the Great Recession. When Donald Trump says the economy is “booming,” he’s wrong.
An important detail about the new job numbers has gone largely overlooked: Excluding 2020, job growth over the first five months of this year has been the worst since the Great Recession.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-06-06T18:42:21.630Z
Something to keep in mind as Trump describes recent job growth as “great.†www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/job-growth-held-steady-may-new-signs-economic-trouble-emerge-rcna211406
Expectations heading into this week showed projections of about 125,000 new jobs having been added in the United States in May. As it turns out, according to the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the totals easily exceeded expectations. NBC News reported:
Earlier this week, Donald Trump published a one-sentence statement to his social media platform, in which the president boasted, “Because of Tariffs, our Economy is BOOMING!”
The data suggests otherwise. There’s nothing especially wrong with the preliminary topline totals from May — 139,000 jobs is a mediocre number but hardly a disaster — though there are other signs of trouble. For example, the revised jobs totals from March and April were sharply lower, pointing to a job market that appears to be cooling.
Indeed, consider the broader context: Over the first five months of 2025, the latest data suggest the economy has added 619,000 jobs. Over the first five months of 2024 — when Trump said the economy was terrible — the total was nearly 898,000 jobs. Over the first five months of 2023, the U.S. economy added nearly 1.3 million jobs.....
In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of discussion in economic and finance circles about when and whether the White House tariffs and trade policies would start to affect the domestic job market. Real trouble hasn’t yet arrived — it’s tough to complain too much about a 4.2% unemployment rate — but concerned chatter is going to be noticeably louder in response to this new data.
The United States added 139,000 jobs in May, more than expected but pointing to a labor market that continues to slow. The employment data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics exceeded forecasts for about 120,000 payroll gains but marked a decline from the revised 147,000 jobs added in April. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, remaining near historic lows.
Earlier this week, Donald Trump published a one-sentence statement to his social media platform, in which the president boasted, “Because of Tariffs, our Economy is BOOMING!”
The data suggests otherwise. There’s nothing especially wrong with the preliminary topline totals from May — 139,000 jobs is a mediocre number but hardly a disaster — though there are other signs of trouble. For example, the revised jobs totals from March and April were sharply lower, pointing to a job market that appears to be cooling.
Indeed, consider the broader context: Over the first five months of 2025, the latest data suggest the economy has added 619,000 jobs. Over the first five months of 2024 — when Trump said the economy was terrible — the total was nearly 898,000 jobs. Over the first five months of 2023, the U.S. economy added nearly 1.3 million jobs.....
In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of discussion in economic and finance circles about when and whether the White House tariffs and trade policies would start to affect the domestic job market. Real trouble hasn’t yet arrived — it’s tough to complain too much about a 4.2% unemployment rate — but concerned chatter is going to be noticeably louder in response to this new data.