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MaddowBlog-Team Trump struggles to spin the worst job numbers since the Great Recession
When the nation’s labor secretary flubs arithmetic while struggling to defend poor employment data, there’s a problem.
My favorite part of the Republican response to the worst job market since the Great Recession:
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-09T17:27:20.740Z
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer tried to subtract 92,000 from 126,000 and somehow ended up with 60,000.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/team-trump-struggles-to-spin-on-the-worst-job-numbers-since-the-great-recession
In mid-February, as Donald Trump’s State of the Union address neared, Peter Navarro, a leading White House voice on trade and economic policy, told Fox News that the U.S. economy was “perfect.” A week later, during JD Vance’s latest Fox News appearance, the vice president celebrated the “Trump boom” in the economy.
Soon after, the American public learned that economic growth during the first year of the president’s second term reached a nine-year low (excluding the pandemic). Late last week, the latest job numbers were even worse: The U.S. economy lost 90,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate inched higher.
Indeed, the closer one looked at the data, the worse the figures appeared. Trump has been in the White House for 14 months, and during that time the cumulative total is 150,000 jobs. In the last 14 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, by contrast, the American economy added 1.74 million jobs.....
In theory, this is not an unreasonable position, since larger trends are more important than month-to-month fluctuations. But in practice, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
First, recent averages don’t do the White House any favors, either. The economy not only shed jobs in February, it also lost jobs in two of the last three months, three of the last five months and five of the last nine months. (During Biden’s term, there were literally zero months in which the economy lost jobs.)
Put simply, since Trump returned to power, there has been no period of sustained, healthy job growth in the United States.
Second, arithmetic still matters.
During Chavez-DeRemer’s Fox Business appearance, the scandal-plagued labor secretary claimed, “Overall, we’ve gained 60,000 new jobs over the last two months.”
No, we haven’t. According to the Trump administration’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy added 126,000 jobs in January and then lost 92,000 jobs in February. That’s a combined total of 34,000, not 60,000.
What’s more, this approach includes some ugly averages. Monthly job growth of 17,000 to 30,000 is quite awful and not enough to keep up with population growth, as the nation’s labor secretary really ought to know.
Soon after, the American public learned that economic growth during the first year of the president’s second term reached a nine-year low (excluding the pandemic). Late last week, the latest job numbers were even worse: The U.S. economy lost 90,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate inched higher.
Indeed, the closer one looked at the data, the worse the figures appeared. Trump has been in the White House for 14 months, and during that time the cumulative total is 150,000 jobs. In the last 14 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, by contrast, the American economy added 1.74 million jobs.....
In theory, this is not an unreasonable position, since larger trends are more important than month-to-month fluctuations. But in practice, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
First, recent averages don’t do the White House any favors, either. The economy not only shed jobs in February, it also lost jobs in two of the last three months, three of the last five months and five of the last nine months. (During Biden’s term, there were literally zero months in which the economy lost jobs.)
Put simply, since Trump returned to power, there has been no period of sustained, healthy job growth in the United States.
Second, arithmetic still matters.
VARNEY: If you add it all up, it doesn't look good for the Trump economy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-06T14:47:36.853Z
LABOR SECRETARY LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER: I couldn't agree with you. Overall, we've gained 60,000 new jobs over the last two months
During Chavez-DeRemer’s Fox Business appearance, the scandal-plagued labor secretary claimed, “Overall, we’ve gained 60,000 new jobs over the last two months.”
No, we haven’t. According to the Trump administration’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy added 126,000 jobs in January and then lost 92,000 jobs in February. That’s a combined total of 34,000, not 60,000.
What’s more, this approach includes some ugly averages. Monthly job growth of 17,000 to 30,000 is quite awful and not enough to keep up with population growth, as the nation’s labor secretary really ought to know.
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