Live updates: Jobs report, revisions set off economic alarm bells
A weak jobs report Friday and major downward revisions to May and June employment figures have set off alarm bells about the direction of the U.S. economy.
The U.S. added only 73,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate stayed flat at 4.2 percent, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. That was well below the expectations of economists, most of whom projected job gains of at least 100,000 in July.
Job growth in May and June was also far lower than first reported, according to the Labor Department, which shaved 258,000 jobs off of its past two reports.
Democrats including Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (Calif.) were quick to pounce on the news.
On Thursday night, President Trump set higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that hadn’t yet agreed to trade deals with the U.S., hours before his suspended reciprocal tariffs were set to take effect on Friday. Those new rates will take effect Aug. 7.
In a separate executive order, Trump set Canada’s tariff rate at 35 percent, 10 points higher than he’d previously announced, which he said reflected the nation’s inability to control fentanyl at the border.
Trump on Friday is set to travel to his Bedminster, N.J., home, where he’ll reportedly host a fundraiser for MAGA Inc., the super PAC that supports him.
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