{"id":32707,"date":"2026-08-08T15:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32707"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:28:11","slug":"july-jobs-report-inflation-add-to-trumps-midterm-economic-headwinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32707","title":{"rendered":"July jobs report, inflation add to Trump&#8217;s midterm economic headwinds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/EconomyJobs_Stanage_AP_YukiIwamura.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n        <iframe id=\"instaread_iframe\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Audio Article\" style=\"display:block\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n    <\/p>\n<p><\/instaread-player><\/p>\n<p>New clouds darkened the economic landscape on Friday, as the latest employment report showed the nation <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/business\/6015291-us-jobs-23k-losses-bls-report-july\/\">shedding 23,000 jobs<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n<p>The number came as an unpleasant surprise to most economists. The consensus prediction from experts canvassed by Dow Jones had been that more than 80,000 jobs would be created.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Democrats pounced on the number to reinforce their case that President Trump is mismanaging the economy.<\/p>\n<p>Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PeteButtigieg\/status\/2085716611705544919?s=20\">wrote<\/a> on social media platform X: \u201cThe economic failures of the Trump administration keep piling up. There\u2019s no way to spin these dismal results, because Americans know they\u2019re paying the price every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif,), the former Speaker, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpeakerPelosi\/status\/2085763762837946859\">chimed in<\/a> that, \u201cToday\u2019s disastrous report is the latest proof that the Trump economy has failed the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Abdul El-Sayed, who this week won the Democratic nomination to battle former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in a U.S. Senate race in Michigan, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AbdulElSayed\/status\/2085749933563347230?s=20\">wrote<\/a>: \u201cTrump dump\u2026or slump. Either way, it\u2019s bad. Mike Rogers wants to rubber stamp this. I want to stand up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats believed even before the latest report that the economy would be a strong issue for them in November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>Trump was elected, at least in part, to ease inflation that had lingered since hitting its highest point in decades in the middle of the Biden presidency.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Progress has been slow and, in recent months, has gone in the wrong direction, however. That\u2019s largely because of Trump\u2019s decision to go to war with Iran and the consequent climb in the price of oil.<\/p>\n<p>Inflation peaked under Biden at an annualized rate of 9.1 percent in June 2022. But it had fallen to 2.7 percent by November 2024, the month in which Trump defeated then-Vice President Harris.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/charts\/consumer-price-index\/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm\">inflation figure<\/a> now has been above 3 percent every month since the war on Iran began on Feb. 28. It hit 4.2 percent in May and stood at 3.5 percent for June. New figures covering July will be released next Wednesday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The public is feeling the effects both of persistent inflation and a broader sense of economic malaise.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/polls\/approval\/donald-trump\/issues\/inflation\">polling averages<\/a> maintained by RealClearPolitics, Trump\u2019s single worst issue is inflation, with more than two-thirds of the public disapproving of his performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the economy in general, Trump doesn\u2019t fare much better: Roughly 61 percent of people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/polls\/approval\/donald-trump\/issues\/economy\">disapprove of his performance<\/a> while about 37 percent approve.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But there are some caveats, for sure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump often focuses on the performance of the stock market as an indicator of the economy\u2019s health. The president frequently notes how gains on Wall Street are good news for Americans with 401(k) retirement savings plans as well as for people who hold stocks directly.<\/p>\n<p>The S&amp;P 500, the most broad-based of the three major stock market indices, rose again on Friday, closing at 7,757. That\u2019s a gain of almost 30 percent since Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The fact that the market rose on Friday, after a poor jobs report, is not as strange as it might seem.<\/p>\n<p>Broadly speaking, Wall Street\u2019s primary concern is interest rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The markets fear that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon to try to fight inflation. But a bad jobs report makes that slightly less likely, since the central bank might think the economy is slowing of its own accord and needs no further pumping of the brakes.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody\u2019s Analytics, noted that there are other indicators, such as decelerating wage growth and comparatively \u201ctame\u201d rises in housing costs, that also weigh against a rate increase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of gravitational forces to bring inflation back in,\u201d Zandi told this column. \u201cGiven the weak economy, I would be holding rates steady. What will [the Fed] do? I think this jobs report strengths the hand of people who want to keep rates unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump and his allies take issue with the claim that the economy is weak, however.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House\u2019s National Economic Council, told reporters on Friday, \u201cThe economy continues to be strong. We see durable goods orders, capital spending, through the roof. People aren\u2019t being laid off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hassett also played down the jobs report as \u201cvery noisy data\u2026 It\u2019s a survey that is, like, one thing to look at but there are a lot of other things to look at too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some Trump allies also note that even as the nation lost jobs, the unemployment rate ticked down, from 4.2 percent in June to 4.1 percent in July. \u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr8_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But, again, that is shaky grounds for optimism.<\/p>\n<p>The unemployment rate decrease is a byproduct of people leaving the labor market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Economists debate whether this is the consequence of people giving up on finding jobs or being able to retire early, or whether it is caused by immigrants \u2014 authorized as well as unauthorized \u2014 leaving the U.S.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr9_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Whatever the reason, a smaller labor force typically results in less robust economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>There is, of course, the possibility that public sentiment about the economy will improve \u2014 perhaps if the conflict in Iran is definitively ended and prices come down.<\/p>\n<p>But time is running short for Trump and the GOP with the midterms just three months away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr10_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>And Friday\u2019s jobs report certainly didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no reason to see any sunshine in this,\u201d said Zandi. \u201cIt\u2019s just shades of gray and black.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New clouds darkened the economic landscape on Friday, as the latest employment report showed the nation shedding 23,000 jobs in July. The number came as an unpleasant surprise to most economists. The consensus prediction from experts canvassed by Dow Jones had been that more than 80,000 jobs would be created. Democrats pounced on the number&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/EconomyJobs_Stanage_AP_YukiIwamura.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}