— Net hiring has plummeted over the past three months with job gains of just 73,000 in July, 14,000 in June and 19,000 in May — a combined 258,000 jobs lower than previously indicated. On average last year, the economy added 168,000 jobs a month.

There are two problems with Trump’s assertion. First, the White House has been unable to identify the survey he keeps referencing. And second, economic growth has slowed this year, and inflation has begun rising as the impact of Trump’s high tariffs starts kicking in.

US President Donald Trump said he would fire the head of the agency charged with publishing some of America's most closely watched economic data, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report stoked further alarm about his tariff policies.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked higher last month in a sign that President Donald Trump’s broad-based tariffs are starting to lift prices for many goods.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, ticked higher in June.

President Donald Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday after a new jobs report showed a major slowdown of hiring in recent months. In a social media post, Trump volleyed sharp criticism and baseless accusations at Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee who was confirmed by the Senate in 2024.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director.

And it indicates that the fallout from Trump’s tariffs is starting to push up prices for American consumers, even before his most sweeping levies take effect. Inflation remaining stubborn even as the labor market cools will make the central bank’s task more difficult.