this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2025
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Donald Trump’s contentious decision to fire the U.S. statistics chief has done little to stem an economic slump, with the latest jobs report showing only 22,000 jobs were added in August - well below expectations. One month after Trump sacked the Bureau of Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in response to weak job numbers, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent, the highest since 2021.

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[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 25 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

And that 2200 number got announced after being already cooked by the new replacement management. Imagine what the actual number was.

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 3 points 14 hours ago

5 blow jobs!

That's right, last month we gained 5 blow jobs!

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

Everyone in the department has been pretty clear that the director has no real way to influence the numbers. I suppose they could just release a fake document, but that wouldn’t be very tenable in the long term.

[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Why else would the director be replaced? No other reason seems feasible -- he didn't like the true answer.

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 14 hours ago

Because he’s an idiot and assumed the next director can make the change.

[–] dondelelcaro@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Shooting the messenger has a long, sordid history.

[–] Natanael@infosec.pub 4 points 18 hours ago

They can push for things like altered definitions and thresholds, etc, even if they're not authorized to pick their own numbers directly, etc.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 18 hours ago

What does this really mean though?

The same could be said of any democratic institution, of course the director doesn't have any way to influence the reporting they produce because it's all supposed to be transparent and reliable.

In reality though, in the Trump admin, they can absolutely manipulate the numbers in a myriad of ways.

[–] kylie_kraft@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

That's certainly not going to stop them from trying.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 131 points 1 day ago (2 children)

"We apologise again for the fault in the data. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked."

[–] tburkhol@lemmy.world 70 points 1 day ago

The firings will continue until the numbers look good.

[–] floo@retrolemmy.com 46 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] PostProcess@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Well, those interdental tooth brushes can be quite sharp...

[–] Ougie@lemmy.world 28 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

And these jobs that were created are mostly ICE hires ಠ_ಠ

Wow, it has been a while since I have seen the good ol’ Reddit glare ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (2 children)

Population growth in August should have been around 162,000. 22,000 jobs created means a deficit of around 140,000 jobs. Or rather 100,000 people without jobs probably.

Not a good look for him.

[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

They're gonna spin it into AIs great success.

[–] BanMe@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

Shh they like to say "only 22k jobs" like we're still growing just not as fast

The media today was a case study in "ok don't panic everyone"

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 93 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Since he's installing loyalists, the integrity of the data will now always be in question.

If the numbers aren't great, and that's even with a thumb on the scale?

[–] LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

They are much worse than this. Inflation is worse than they show. The dollar has lost 11% of its value since January. We are in freefall because of MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

Trump doesn't care, he has most of his money in crypto. He wants the dollar to tank, because then his shitcoins are worth more dollars.

[–] the_q@lemmy.zip 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's the point. That's why AI is being pushed so hard on top of it. Information integrity is dead... I have the numbers to prove it.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

What’s really annoying is people keep acting like this hasn’t been a thing already for nearly a decade.

[–] kmartburrito@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

I can recommend a good dye: color code 8647

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 day ago

Trump suffers...

Don't get my hopes up like that

[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Wait wait wait.... are you telling me that ignoring and hiding a problem does not FIX that problem???!!

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 18 hours ago

What if we increase the cost of everything for no reason? I mean if everyone can buy less things, and everything costs more to manufacture, everyone will need more jobs.

[–] manxu@piefed.social 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I bet 11000 of those new jobs are just loyalists replacing "DEI hires" (aka competent people).

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 8 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

I would count each of those as a -1 to job stats. Anti-woke jackasses are worse than nothing, I expect.

[–] Minarble@aussie.zone 1 points 16 hours ago

Depends how you measure it…They are at least as good as two men on holiday.

[–] juandelpueblo787@lemmy.world 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

"It's the past administration's fault I fired that staff! You liberal media always pushing propaganda!"

[–] Zulu@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Biden job slump time bomb!?"

I can see the headlines already.

[–] SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 7 points 1 day ago

Sleepy Joe gets long range hit on Trump administration.

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

The fact that their mind even goes to " it was deliberate long-term planning on my opponent's part to make me look bad" suggests that is shit they do... instead of 'governing in the best interest of the people they represent' which is what their job is supposed to be, and what their opponents actually do.

[–] ultranaut@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The ironic thing is, a lower employment rate increases the chances the Fed will reduce interest rates, which is exactly what Trump wants. He is working against himself trying to rig the numbers, and creating a situation where rates can get significantly out of sync with the real economy.

[–] PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

real economy

Because the dude has no concept of what reality/truth is. We just all have to live in his fucked up head canon of how the world works.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 0 points 23 hours ago

To be fair that's pretty much always been the case throughout history, we're just seeing one far edge case where perceived vs actual reality differ more than they usually do for the guy in charge.

[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 8 points 22 hours ago

Just got to remind myself. As long as I can make it to the next housing crash, I will be ok. And if I'm ok, I can keep helping others.

But damn do they make it hard.

I guess the economy is complicated huh, just like health care? Sure seems like Biden had the right tactic for four years, so what's his problem? Too stupid? What good was that ivy league business education of his?

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

To the surprise of literally no one, the American economy is doing bad.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Hey but GDP, a completely useless metric for describing how the real economy for the 99% is doing, is pretty healthy!

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

You mean 5he stock market...?

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago
[–] relativestranger@feddit.nl 14 points 1 day ago

surprised the new hire could even count that high.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There are less jobs then there are people

There are not enough jobs in existence to sustain the people in existence

This is an absolute failure of this system, if this continues then we are going to be raiding grocery stores soon.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

the jobs situation is absolutely dramatic and it's incredible that not more people talk about it.

the people need income. it either comes from jobs or universal basic income or raids. (at least) one of the three.

[–] crozilla@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

“Despite” firing…fixed it.

[–] Hayduke@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Well, he seems to be firing at a near 1:1 ratio of new hires, so not that surprising.