Job creation in 2019 was the slowest seen for eight years, according to data just released from the Department of Labor, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, seriously undercutting President Donald Trump’s claims that the U.S. economy is booming like never before:
“After a decade of rising employment, hiring last year slowed notably from the brisk pace seen in 2018: With 2.1 million jobs created, that made 2019 the weakest year since 2011, according to the Labor Department data.”
In 2019, an average of 175,00 new positions were created, which is a dramatic decrease from the 225,000 new jobs in 2018.
As Trump tries to win a second term in office, the slowing pace of new job creation could come back to haunt him. The most recent jobs report for December showed a gain of only 145,000 jobs created, which is unusually low since hiring often increases during the Christmas season to accommodate additional customers in stores.
One culprit for the slow pace of job creation is Trump’s ongoing trade and tariff war with China, which has decimated American manufacturing and farm payrolls:
“The ailing manufacturing sector, driven into recession by Trump’s multi-front trade wars and a sluggish global economy, shed workers for third time in 2019.”
Job losses are seen by some experts in the near future:
“The total labor force — the sum of those people working or actively looking for work — grew a touch more quickly than job creation in December, something that could cause unemployment to begin to rise if it becomes a trend.
A tightening labor market could lead to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, another fear for Trump in an election year. If interest rates rise instead of continuing to fall, the cost of credit purchases will increase, which usually causes consumers to delay major purchases such as cars or large home appliances. And that could drag the overall U.S. job picture down even further.
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