Former President Trump on Wednesday falsely claimed that a scheduled and widely expected revision to the federal jobs report was a pro-Democrat plot by the Biden administration.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released an analysis on Wednesday showing that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs between March 2023 and March 2024 than initially reported.
The biggest revision since 2009 put last year’s job gains at 0.5% lower than initially reported. Revisions typically indicate just a 0.1% increase or decrease from the previous year’s employment level.
The BLS data was roughly in line with expectations from economists who projected U.S. payrolls would fall by as much as 1 million from their previous total. The bureau recalculates gains based on new information it receives after the monthly jobs report is released.
Still, Trump claimed without evidence that the corrections were evidence of a conspiracy by President Biden and Vice President Harris to manipulate federal economic data.
“Massive scandal! The Harris-Biden Administration has been found to have rigged jobs statistics to hide the true extent of the economic devastation it has inflicted on America.” Trump posted Visit his Truth Social site.
Trump also claimed the Biden administration “inflated the numbers” with jobs that “don’t exist and never have existed.”
The BLS is an agency within the Department of Labor and its employees are career civil servants. There is no evidence that the Biden Administration or the BLS employees who prepared the report engaged in unethical or illegal conduct.
“I have always been amazed and impressed. [BLS’s] “It combines professionalism, neutrality and transparency — a really unique combination that will allow us to do a lot with limited resources and help us all make more informed decisions,” said Julia Pollack, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist. In a post On social platform X.
Pollack noted that his praise of the BLS is significant because he is “deeply skeptical of government, shocked by the prevalence of corruption in the United States, and by no means naive about the political leanings of most Washington, D.C., residents and government employees.”
Ernie Tedeschi, who served as chief economist in the Biden administration, Featured online The downward revision was made during President Trump’s presidency.
The revision, released by the BLS on Wednesday, may add to concerns that the Federal Reserve may be slowing cutting interest rates, which remain at a 23-year high in an effort to tame inflation.
“The actual numbers are much worse and with 4 more years of Comrade Kamala as President, millions more jobs will disappear overnight and inflation will completely devastate our country,” Trump’s post read.
The BLS revisions come as Vice President Harris seeks to address economy-related issues after President Biden struggles to convince voters that his plan, known as “Bidenomics,” is working.
“This preliminary estimate does not change the fact that the jobs recovery has been historically strong, delivering solid job and wage growth, strong consumer spending, and record small business creation,” Jared Bernstein, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement.
President Trump has consistently criticized Biden and Harris, saying the economy and inflation peaked in June 2022 under their administrations. President Trump also predicted that the U.S. economy and stock market would crash if Biden were elected in 2020, a claim he has continued to make this year.
“Your savings will be wiped out,” he said. “If Trump wins, we’ll have the best economy in history again.”
Updated 3:06 p.m.
