The U.S. economy experienced an increase of 22,000 jobs in August, alongside a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.3 percent. This marks the first federal jobs report published since President Trump dismissed the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) director.

Economists had anticipated a gain of 75,000 jobs for the U.S. in August, with a slight increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3 percent from July’s 4.2 percent, as per consensus forecasts.

The August jobs report comes as Trump seeks a major change atop the BLS, a non-political statistical agency thrust into a partisan battle.

Former BLS Director Erika McEntarfer, who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, was removed by Trump last month following July’s disappointing job figures. That report showed a mere 72,000 jobs added in July, along with significant negative revisions to earlier reports.

Overall, the data revealed just 106,000 jobs were added across May to July — a figure that fell to one-third of the minimum level economists consider necessary to maintain steady unemployment rates.

Trump accused McEntarfer and the BLS of falsifying job statistics to favor Democrats, especially leading up to the 2024 election. However, he provided no proof, and the BLS had indeed issued substantial downward adjustments to previous reports shortly before Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Economists and BLS professionals from all political backgrounds criticized Trump’s decision, standing by the agency’s integrity and the statisticians responsible for the reports. Many highlighted the improbability of manipulating the jobs data due to the extensive volume of information required to produce accurate results.

Trump continued to cast doubt on BLS data on Thursday, saying that “real” jobs numbers will come next year.

“They come out tomorrow, but the real numbers that I’m talking about are going to be whatever it is, but will be in a year from now on,” Trump said at a dinner with tech sector executives.

The downward revisions in July were due to late reporting of public education sector jobs, which are highly seasonal, the BLS told The Hill. The agency has faced declining response rates to its surveys since the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, something that has affected statistical agencies in other countries, as well.

Several private-sector gauges of the labor market have also showed a slowdown in recent months, with fewer companies hiring and workers holding onto their jobs at record rates.

Layoffs surged nearly 40 percent last month, with employers eliminating 85,979 positions — the largest August hit since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to research released from Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Thursday.

Private employers added just 54,000 jobs in August, indicating a slowdown in the hiring market, according to ADP data released Thursday morning.

Job openings also fell in July to 7.18 million, marking the first time job seekers have outnumbered open positions since 2021.

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