San José, CA – On Friday, August 7, the Bureau of the Labor Statistics (BLS) of the Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy had lost 23,000 jobs in July. This was much lower than what economists had estimated, which was of a gain of 80,000 jobs. To make matters worse, revisions to the reports for May and June showed that 100,000 fewer jobs were created than reported earlier.
San José, CA – The job market slowed sharply in June, to only 57,000 net new jobs, less than half the monthly increases in April and May. In addition, these two reports were revised downward a total of 74,000 new jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released the report for June 2026 on July 2.
San José, CA – On Friday, June 5, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 172,00 net new jobs were created in May. The job numbers for March and April were also revised up, making three months in a row with over 150,000 net new jobs. The official unemployment rate stayed the same as in April, at 4.3%.
San José, CA – On Friday, May 8, the Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS, which is under the federal Department of Labor, released their monthly job market report for the month of April. The report was mixed, with strength shown by businesses while households showed weaknesses, reflecting the growing polarization in the economy.
San José, CA – The annual updating of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, a division of the Department of Labor) of the job creation numbers cut the annual number by 403,000 new jobs. This meant that only 181,000 net new jobs were created for the year, or only about 15,000 new jobs per month. This is the lowest annual number outside of a recession year since 2003, when the U.S. economy was in what was then named a “jobless recovery” after the 2001 recession.
On October 15, a White House memo boasted a $13 billion investment in five Midwestern plants by automaker Stellantis. It also announced projects by Whirlpool, General Electric and others. Thanks to tariffs, Trump tells us, the prodigal sons of industry have returned.
But how does the scoreboard really add up for reindustrialization?
Not quite as advertised. These aren’t new factories; they’re old ones being retooled. Tariffs shoot manufacturers in the foot, since they drive up prices for supplies. Investing in new technologies takes skilled workers. This is a hard sell when ICE just deported over 300 Korean technicians from a Georgia car factory. Auto corporations, hearts full of liberal compassion, fear that “first they came for Hyundai.”
San José, CA – On Friday, September 5, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were only 22,000 net new jobs created in August. This was the weakest number in the past four years. Even worse, the new job numbers for June and July were revised downward by 21,000, so that the revised June number was a net loss of 13,000 jobs.
San José, CA – On Friday, August 1, the Department of Labor released its jobs report for the month of July. The report caused strong reactions, including disappointment, shock and anger.
San José, CA – At first glance, the June jobs report released on Thursday, July 3 looks pretty good. The total net new jobs are reported at 147,000, on par with the average of 146,000 for the previous 12 months. Further, the previous two months’ estimates were revised up by a total of 16,000, not lower as has been the pattern. The unemployment rate ticked down by one-tenth of one percent from 4.2% in May to 4.1% in June.
The small drop in the unemployment rate could be accounted for by the drop in the “Labor Force Participation Rate” by the same one-tenth of one percent from 62.4% in May to 63.2% in June. What this means is many people without jobs gave up looking in June, which lowers both the unemployment rate as people have to be out of work and looking for work to be counted as unemployed.
San José, CA – On Wednesday, August 21, the U.S. Department of Labor released an initial estimate reducing the number of net new jobs created from April 2023 to March 2024 by 818,000, or about 28%. This is the biggest adjustment since 2009, the year after the Great Financial Crisis. The adjustment was about five times as big as previous years’ adjustments.