The Daily Populous Friday September 5th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by NewSlinger

U.S. job growth has almost entirely ground to a standstill, according to government data released Friday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the U.S. added 22,000 jobs in August, well below expectations for 75,000. Employment data for June was revised to show a net loss for that month, the BLS said, though July’s figures were revised slightly higher.

Taken together, the U.S. has added 598,000 jobs so far this year, compared with 1,144,000 for the first eight months of 2024. The BLS said Friday that the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.3%, a level not seen since Sept. 2017 outside of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The numbers added to growing concerns that President Donald Trump’s policies have pushed the economy toward a problematic mix of low growth and stubborn inflation.

More than one-quarter of all unemployed workers have now gone without a job for more than six months, the highest level since June 2016.

"The jobs engine that has been integral to U.S. economic growth defying expectations for the past four years is stalling," Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, said in a note. "Weakness remains widespread across industries, making it difficult to drive a bounce-back in the near term."

Major U.S. stock indexes turned negative Friday after briefly rising to fresh record highs when trading opened at 9:30 a.m., suggesting investors are growing more concerned about the state of the economy despite the prospect of lower interest rates. When companies are able to borrow money more cheaply, their profit margins tend to improve — assuming spending growth holds up.

Trump took office promising to turbocharge the U.S. economy. While it is still in solid shape by most metrics, it had begun to lose momentum at the conclusion of the Biden administration.

Instead, Trump’s push to impose tariffs on imports into the U.S. — alongside his aggressive efforts to eliminate federal spending, many of which continue to face legal challenges — have sparked a wave of uncertainty that has made it difficult for businesses to hire more people.

Those tariffs have also fueled ongoing concerns about rising prices. While inflation has dropped significantly from the highs seen following pandemic reopenings in 2022, many measures show it remains above the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

lunargoblin on September 5th, 2025 at 17:27 UTC »

The U.S. added just 22,000 jobs in August, which confirms how slow the market has gotten. Honestly, at this point the economy feels like someone is throwing random policies at the wall and hoping one sticks. Materials are more expensive, demand is shaky, and no one can plan for anything long term. Some people are even joking that “stagflation speedrun” is officially unlocked.

What makes it even harder is that while postings are going up, so are the number of people applying. And honestly, a lot of the listings I see on LinkedIn are either fake or just “ghost jobs” where companies aren’t even actively hiring.

If you’re looking for remote work, your odds are better since you’re not limited to one location. You can target companies across multiple regions and time zones.

Here’s one clever strategy I came across: someone used Google Maps to find hundreds of recruiting firms, sent out their resume manually, and ended up with multiple remote offers. It’s a super creative approach and it’s worked for others too. Check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/RemoteJobseekers/comments/1fdpeg2/how_i_landed_multiple_remote_job_offers_my_remote/

You can actually apply the same method for onsite or local jobs as well. For example, if you’re in tech, open Google Maps and search terms like “tech recruitment” or “IT recruitment” in your area. Collect the contact info of the firms you find, then send them your resume in bulk along with a short explanation of your situation. It takes more effort than hitting Easy Apply, but it puts you directly in front of recruiters who are actively filling roles.

CantAffordzUsername on September 5th, 2025 at 13:20 UTC »

163,000,000 working Americans

And they “added” 22,000 jobs…

Wow! That’s like 0.013%…..

Thanks MAGA!

doneandtired2014 on September 5th, 2025 at 12:42 UTC »

Who knew adding import taxes that vary day by day, upending the funding for entire sectors, and throwing policies at a wall like a rabid monkey flinging shit doesn't lead to a booming economy because it 1) has made materials + labor more expensive, 2) has crippled demand, and 3) introduced so much uncertainty no one can forecast or plan for literally anything? /s

I cannot articulate just how fucking stupid and detached from reality anyone who voted for Trump because "he's a great business man!" and "he's good for the economy!" truly is.