Last year, Donald Trump couldn’t stop talking about the economy.

As a presidential candidate, he assailed Democrats for inflation and rode the persistent malaise over the high cost of living right back to the White House, promising swift relief even though economists warned that his plans could actually drive prices higher.

Today’s lackluster jobs numbers are a reminder of how quickly the issue could present him, and his party, with political peril as elections approach.

The economy added only 22,000 jobs in August, which, my colleague Lydia DePillis explained, is a sign that the labor market appears to be stalling. Looking backward, the news is even worse: A revision to June’s figures shows the labor market actually lost 13,000 jobs that month, making it the first negative number since December 2020.

There are other signs of trouble. A key measure of underlying inflation rose over the summer as Trump’s tariffs put pressure on prices, driving up the costs of things like furniture, appliances and clothing. Manufacturing activity has been shrinking for six months.

It’s not clear right now just what will happen to the economy between now and next year’s midterm elections. (And today’s news might deliver an upside for Trump: The darkening labor market could mean that he gets his long-sought cut to the interest rate, as my colleague Colby Smith pointed out today.)

But what is clear, right now at least, is that the president has a problem.