U.S. President Donald Trump fired the U.S. commissioner of labour statistics after weak jobs numbers signaled tariffs weren’t yet leading to his promised economic boom.

Washington

Recent U.S. jobs data showed a significant slowdown in job creation, with downward revisions resulting in a total loss of 258,000 jobs over two months. President Donald Trump dismissed the figures as manipulated and fired the official responsible for the jobs report, stating the numbers were 'phony.'

The weak jobs report coincided with major U.S. companies reporting substantial losses attributed to tariffs, including GM, Ford, and Apple. While the White House maintained an optimistic outlook, economists and investors expressed concerns, with markets posting their worst week in months and experts warning that the firing could undermine trust in official economic data.

Trump dismisses weak jobs numbers, fires labour statistics chief

From the opening bell, investors ran for cover worried that Donald Trump's tariff plan may be causing more damage than they thought. But the tariffs weren't the only thing driving uncertainty. This was a stunner of a report. Job creation last month slowed by much more than expected. Experts say that's not even the worst part. What really grabs you by the throat here is that we had downward revisions for payrolls making for a total loss of 258,000 jobs in May and June. All told, the U.S. economy added just 19,000 jobs in May and 14,000 jobs in June, way below the monthly average. That doesn't exactly square with the message from the White House that the economy was booming in spite of tariffs. What we are watching is President Trump rebuilding the greatest economy in the history of the world and simultaneously proving the so-called economic experts wrong at every turn. Trump dismissed the jobs numbers as rigged in order to make him look bad and he fired the person responsible for the jobs report. I believe the numbers were phony just like they were before the election and there were other times so you know what I did, I fired her. And you know what, I did the right thing. But it's not just jobs. Trump's tariffs weighed heavily on corporate earnings released by some of the biggest companies in the country this week. GM's profits fell by $1.1 billion in the first three months of the year. Ford reported an $800 million tariff hit and posted its first quarterly loss since 2023. And Apple says tariffs cost it nearly $2 billion through the first half of the year. Still, the White House is holding firm. Look, you know this jobs report isn't ideal. This trade advisor admits U.S. immigration policy upended the jobs market and the tariffs did cause some uncertainty. But that uncertainty is resolved. The tariff rates are set. The one big beautiful bill is law. It's going to get better from here. In the end, markets closed down posting their worst week in months telling us that investors just don't believe that optimism. And Peter, American companies have been saying for a while now they aren't feeling the economic optimism. Yeah, we've heard plenty of businesses struggling with tariffs. Worried about the potential of a downturn. But that was easy to dismiss when the data were strong. Now we're seeing some of those data catch up to the anecdotes. And remember, those numbers come at a bit of a lag, right? The jobs numbers look at last month. The GDP numbers for June only just came out. And now we have economists denouncing this firing of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics as dangerous because it's going to undermine the trust in those numbers as they do come out. Thanks, Peter. And you'll be back later in the program for more on U.S. tariffs. So talk to you again soon. Thanks.

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