President Donald Trump’s campaign has responded after federal jobs numbers were published Friday.
Poor July job numbers brought the U.S. unemployment rate to the highest level in nearly three years.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that employers added 114,000 jobs in July.
The figure was way below the 175,000 gain forecast by LSEG economists.
The unemployment rate also unexpectedly inched higher to 4.3%.
This figure also went against expectations that it would hold steady at 4.1%.
It marked the highest level for the jobless rate since October 2021.
The Trump campaign notes that Vice President Kamala Harris has played a role in the poor job numbers.
Team Trump notes that Harris has been President Joe Biden’s “co-pilot” in the “Bidenomics” that led to the poor July jobs numbers.
In a Friday statement, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said:
“Kamala Harris has proudly and repeatedly celebrated her role as Joe Biden’s co-pilot on ‘Bidenomics.’
“She cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate for spending that put inflation on steroids, and despite the evidence that America’s working families are hurting, she tells us these failed plans are working.”
Leavitt added: “The basic necessities of food, gas, and housing are less affordable, unemployment is rising, and Kamala doesn’t seem to care.”
Friday’s report adds to mounting evidence that the economy is weakening in the face of ongoing inflation and high interest rates.
Stock futures plunged as the report reignited fears of an impending recession, with Dow futures shedding more than 500 points.
The weaker-than-expected data also raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve waited too long to cut interest rates.
Policymakers voted after their two-day meeting on Wednesday to hold rates steady at a 23-year high.
However, they signaled that they could start loosening policy before the election and as soon as September.
Healthcare continued to lead the way in job creation, onboarding 55,000 new workers in July.
Other sectors showing notable growth included construction (25,000), the government (17,000), and transportation and warehousing (14,000).
However, there were some notable job losses last month.
Information employment declined by 20,000, while financial activities shed 4,000 employees.
The report also showed modest revisions.
Job gains for June were revised down by a total of 27,000 jobs to 179,000, the government said.
Meanwhile, May’s gain also came in slightly lower at 216,000 jobs.
But Harris’s campaign is blaming President Trump for the latest negative jobs report—nearly a full term after he left office.
“Donald Trump failed Americans as president, costing our economy millions of jobs, and bringing us to the brink of recession,” Harris for President spokesperson James Singer said in a statement.
Singer continued by attempting to falsely link Trump to Project 2025, even claiming he’s “promising” to enforce the agenda.
“Now, he’s promising even more damage with a Project 2025 agenda that will decimate the middle class and increase taxes on working families, while ripping away health care, raising prescription drug costs, and cutting Social Security and Medicare – all while making his billionaire donors richer.”
Singer added: “We’ve made significant progress, but Vice President Harris knows there’s more work to do to lower costs for families.”
