The labor market may be weaker than previously reported. According to newly revised Bureau and Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the U.S. added nearly a million fewer jobs than it had said earlier.
On Tuesday, a press release explained that 911,000 fewer jobs (-0.6%) were added to the U.S. economy over the last year, in a period that ended in March. The new data reveals that only an estimated 70,000 jobs were added each month, instead of 147,000. Overall, only 850,000 were added to the market over the past year, less than half of what was previously reported.
The new report is significant, as it marks the largest preliminary revision of BLS data since the year 2000. The data also represents the largest number of jobs lost since the 2009 financial crisis. The official report will come in February 2026.
The new data comes weeks after Trump fired the BLS’s top official, Erika McEntarfer, who was confirmed last year. McEntarfer’s firing followed another string of data revisions, which also pointed to job losses and weak hiring. “We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The post continued: “Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate; they can’t be manipulated for political purposes,” the president wrote. “McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative.”
Trump, who has been highly critical of the Labor Department in the past, most notably for its data revisions, has continuously insisted that the economy is strong. But experts say the new report is a sign that the labor market is slowing down.
“Today’s data suggests that cooling in the labor market is more dramatic than previously thought,” Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet, told CBS. “This strengthens the likelihood that the Fed will cut rates next week, as it’s additional evidence that the labor market side of the dual mandate needs some attention.”
While the president is pushing back against claims that job growth is stalled, employees seem to be feeling the pressure to keep their current jobs. Likewise, anxiety about the economy is high as workers worry about mass layoffs.