US hiring is slowing sharply as President Donald Trump’s erratic and radical trade policies paralyse businesses and raise doubts about the outlook for the world’s largest economy.US employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labour Department reported Friday (August 1), well short of the 115,000 expected. Worse, revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. And the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.2% as Americans dropped out of the labour force and the ranks of the unemployed rose by 221,000.
“A notable deterioration in US labour market conditions appears to be underway,’’ said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets. ”We have been forecasting this since the tariff and trade war erupted this spring, and more restrictive immigration restrictions were put in place. Overall, this report highlights the risk of a harder landing for the labour market.’’
Also Read: Why India’s top fund managers aren’t losing sleep over US tariffsEconomists have been warning that the rift with every U.S. trading partner will begin to appear this summer and the Friday jobs report appeared to sound the bell. “We’re finally in the eye of the hurricane,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor. “After months of warning signs, the July jobs report confirms that the slowdown isn’t just approaching—it’s here.”
“A notable deterioration in US labour market conditions appears to be underway,’’ said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets. ”We have been forecasting this since the tariff and trade war erupted this spring, and more restrictive immigration restrictions were put in place. Overall, this report highlights the risk of a harder landing for the labour market.’’
Also Read: Why India’s top fund managers aren’t losing sleep over US tariffsEconomists have been warning that the rift with every U.S. trading partner will begin to appear this summer and the Friday jobs report appeared to sound the bell. “We’re finally in the eye of the hurricane,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor. “After months of warning signs, the July jobs report confirms that the slowdown isn’t just approaching—it’s here.”
US markets recoiled at the jobs report, and the Dow tumbled more than 600 points on Friday. Revelations in the new data raise questions about the health of the job market and the economy as President Donald Trump pushes forward an unorthodox overhaul of American trade policy.
Trump has discarded decades of U.S. efforts to lower trade barriers globally, instead imposing hefty import taxes — tariffs — on products from almost every country on earth. Trump believes the levies will bring manufacturing back to America and raise money to pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law on July 4.
Also Read: US signs trade deal with Pakistan, Trump says ‘maybe they’ll sell oil to India’
