U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labor market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The Labor Department said Friday that hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, the Labor Department reported.
When the department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged Trump responded by in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.
Talking to reporters Thursday night at a dinner with wealthy tech executives, Trump had seemed to shrug off whatever hiring numbers would come out Friday. “The real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now,’’ the president said.
Here’s the latest:
Republican Senate leaders endorse GOP congresswoman to succeed Joni Ernst
U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson got a major boost Friday in Iowa’s Republican Sen. Joni Ernst just days after Ernst for a third term. Within hours of Ernst’s announcement Tuesday, Hinson said she would run for the open seat.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott handed Hinson an endorsement Friday in a joint statement. Thune said Hinson would bring to the Senate her “unrelenting energy” working for President Trump’s agenda.
Hinson, who represents Iowa’s northeastern corner, joins two other Republicans in a primary for Ernst’s seat.
Operation Warp Speed was one of Trump’s biggest achievements. Then came RFK Jr. and vaccine skeptics
President Trump launched in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort he’s credited with saving tens of millions of lives. During a Cabinet meeting last week, he likened it to “one of the greatest achievements ever.”
Sitting at the table as a proud Trump spoke was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who at a congressional hearing Thursday for his work to restrict access to vaccines, including the very COVID-19 shots still touted by his boss.
The three-hour hearing exposed an : One of Trump’s most universal successes in his first term remains Operation Warp Speed, yet his handpicked health chief and a growing cadre of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters are distrustful of the very mRNA vaccine technology that the president has championed.
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Defense Department cancels classified briefing on US strike on alleged Venezuelan vessel
Defense officials were scheduled to provide a classified briefing Friday morning to Congressional leaders and key Hill committees about the strike. But it was canceled without explanation, according to a person familiar with the plans who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
— Michelle L. Price.
Stocks are higher and bond yields are lower as weak jobs report helps case for rate cut
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% in premarket trading Friday, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.6%, propelled by another strong earnings report from chipmaker Broadcom. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly.
In the bond market, Treasury yields fell after the government said U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labor market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Trump’s economic policies, particularly tariffs.
The slowdown in the job market could bolster the case for Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate, which Fed Chair Jerome Powell has already as a possibility. An announcement of a rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting Sept. 16-17 could reduce other borrowing costs in the economy, including mortgages, auto loans, and business loans.
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South Korea expresses ‘concern’ over US immigration raid at Hyundai’s Georgia plant
South Korea on Friday expressed “concern and regret” over a major at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company .
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as “large” though he didn’t provide an exact figure.
His ministry would not confirm or deny South Korean media reports saying that about 300 South Koreans were detained in Georgia on Thursday. The Atlanta office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which assisted immigration authorities at the site, posed on the social media site X that about 450 people total were apprehended.
Hyundai’s South Korean office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
President Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of . Immigration officers have , construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.
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More stats from today’s job report
— Factories shed 12,000 jobs last month, the fourth straight month that manufacturers have cut payrolls
— Construction companies cut 7,000 jobs, and the federal government 15,000
— Labor Department revisions cut 21,000 jobs off June and July payrolls
— Workers’ average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from July and 3.7% from August 2024, exactly what forecasters expected
Trump administration investigates Medicaid spending on immigrants in Democratic states
The Trump administration is taking its to the , launching Medicaid spending probes in at least six Democratic-led states that provide comprehensive health coverage to poor and disabled immigrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is scouring payments covering health care for immigrants without legal status to ensure there isn’t any waste, fraud or abuse, according to public records obtained by KFF Health News and The Associated Press.
While acknowledging that states can bill the federal government for Medicaid emergency and pregnancy care for immigrants without legal status, federal officials have sent letters notifying state health agencies in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington that they are reviewing federal and state payments for medical services, such as prescription drugs and specialty care.
The federal agency told the states it’s reviewing claims as part of its commitment to maintain Medicaid’s fiscal integrity.
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The US job market has lost momentum this year
That’s partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because Trump’s policies, including his trade wars, have created uncertainty that leaves managers reluctant to make hiring decisions.
So far in 2025, the economy has generated 85,000 new jobs a month, down from 168,000 last year and an average 400,000 a month during the hiring boom of 2021-2023 as the United States roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The labor market is showing signs of cracking,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “It’s not a red siren alarm yet, but the signs keep growing that businesses are starting to cut workers.‘’
US employers added just 22,000 jobs last month amid uncertainty over Trump’s policies
The Labor Department said Friday that hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, the Labor Department reported.
When the department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Trump responded by in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.
Talking to reporters Thursday night at a dinner with wealthy tech executives, Trump had seemed to shrug off whatever hiring numbers would come out Friday. “The real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now,’’ the president said.
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Vice President JD Vance sits down with Lara Trump
The president’s daughter-in-law will present an interview with the vice president on Saturday evening for her Fox News show, “My View with Lara Trump.”
Vance has served as a pitchman for the White House, traveling to swing states like Georgia and Wisconsin to promote administration policies like recent tax legislation.
He’s also expected to talk about the upcoming midterms and the next presidential election, when he’s been floated as a potential successor to Trump.
The interview airs Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
