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The U.S. job market was weaker than originally reported over the previous year, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which previously drew the ire of President Donald Trump after downward revisions to jobs data.
Employers added 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months ending March 2025, totaling about 849,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after data previously showed the economy added about 1.76 million jobs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday a downward revision as large as 800,000 jobs was expected, with estimates between 650,000 and 775,000 fewer jobs by analysts at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Comerica Bank and Mizuho Securities.
Bessent and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett criticized the BLS ahead of the agency’s revisions, as Bessent said, “I’m not sure what these people who collect the data have been doing,” while Hassett suggested recent downward revisions are “why we need new and better data.”
818,000. That’s the downward revision the BLS issued last year for the same annual data, lowering the average monthly job growth for the 12 months ending March 2024 from 242,000 to 174,000.
The Federal Reserve will likely take the jobs data revision into account ahead of its next policymaking meeting on Sept. 17, as the central bank appeared to consider last year’s downward revision before cutting rates during its September 2024 meeting. The Fed has relied on a dual mandate of stabilizing inflation while maximizing employment, and August’s jobs report—signaling a higher-than-expected jump for unemployment to 4.3%—appeared to foreshadow a looming rate cut. Investors traded at odds of 99.1% for an interest rate cut of at least a quarter-point shortly after the report, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Consumer price index data will be released on Thursday, as Wall Street expects inflation to tick up to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, according to FactSet. Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise’s chief market strategist, wrote Monday if the inflation data is worse than expected, it would “likely throw cold water” on a larger rate cut by the Fed.
Trump ousted BLS chief Erika McEntarfer after the agency’s jobs report included the largest two-month downward revision since 1968 and signs of cooling for the labor market. Trump, who also claimed McEntarfer had manipulated jobs data during the 2024 election, has targeted the BLS in recent weeks and alleged the agency had “rigged” its data. Some of Trump’s advisers are preparing a report detailing errors with the agency’s jobs data, which includes a historical overview of job data revisions, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Economists have backed the BLS, despite Trump’s criticisms: The National Association for Business Economists said in a statement the group of global analysts and data scientists “stands firmly with the dedicated economists and statisticians at BLS and across the federal statistical agencies.” Trump tapped Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to succeed McEntarfer in a move condemned by Democrats, who called Antoni “completely unqualified.” NABE, which called on policymakers to “defend the integrity of the U.S. statistical system,” added the BLS requires a “knowledgeable and qualified commissioner” who can “protect its trusted professional staff from political pressure.”