Labor market slowdown signals weakening economy

Trump allies have rallied behind Antoni’s nomination.

“E.J. Antoni is one of the sharpest economic minds in the nation — a fearless truth-teller who grasps that sound economics must serve the interests of American families, not globalist elites,” Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said in a statement. Antoni, who is awaiting Senate confirmation, is chief economist at the Heritage Foundation.

Other signs of a stagnant job market piled up ahead of Friday’s report. On Tuesday, the BLS reported hiring and firing rates were essentially unchanged in August from the prior month. It also reported job openings fell in July to the lowest in 10 months, though a separate measure tracked by the job site Indeed showed new job openings have been rising gradually since mid-July.

The private payroll provider ADP reported Thursday that just 54,000 jobs were added in August, weaker than estimates. Challenger, Grey and Christmas consultancy said layoff announcements last month had surged 39% from July, while employers announced plans to add just 1,494 jobs in August, the lowest total for the month since Challenger began tracking hiring plans in 2009.

Alongside the impact from federal layoffs and spending cuts, more employers cited economic and market factors — including the effect of Trump’s tariffs — to explain the slowdown in hiring, as well as store closings and bankruptcies, it said.

“September is typically when we begin to see large seasonal hiring announcements, which foretell how retailers expect the holiday season to go. Coming off the lowest August on record for hiring plans, it may be a troubling sign,” Challenger said.

Trump administration officials and their allies have suggested job growth is increasing for native-born Americans, but multiple analysts say the data behind those assertions are mostly the result of statistical quirks. The unemployment rate for native-born Americans stood at 4.6%, in August, the highest level in eight years.

“It seems likely that the Trump administration will use Friday’s jobs report to continue to argue that their immigration policies are creating job market opportunities for U.S.-born workers, but this claim is false and based on a misreading of data from the household survey,” Ben Zipperer, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog, referring to a survey used by the BLS to calculate population estaimtes.

“If anything, the job market for U.S.-born workers is worse so far in 2025 than it was in preceding years,” Zipperer said.