Words & Phrases

Let’s lose ‘lost jobs’

“The U.S. Lost 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected decline,” declared the New York Times. CBS intoned: “U.S. labor market lost 92,000 jobs in February, marking an unexpected setback for the economy.” And the Wall Street Journal echoed: “U.S. Loses 92,000 Jobs in Widespread and Unexpected Downturn.”

Really, did we “lose” jobs, as in “misplace” them, like car keys or reading glasses? And for whom was this unexpected? Let’s get real. The jobs were not “lost,” and it is not as much of a shocker as legacy outlets made it out to be. Donald Trump is systematically sinking the economy and killing jobs with an array of dumb policies. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) diagnosed it exactly right, arguing: “[Republicans’] failed policies have led to job losses, higher prices and a weaker economy.”

We knew the economy slowed down in 2025, as job creation ground to a halt. Steve Rattner, commenting on Trump’s State of the Union lies, explained the two key factors that account for this drop-off in jobs: immigration (i.e., mass deportations) and tariffs. Trump’s nonsensical policies hamper growth, which inevitably means fewer jobs will be created.

Rattner spelled out the rotten jobs’ picture:

Job growth during Trump’s first year fell markedly from the prior year, an average of just 15,000 jobs a month, compared to 122,000 jobs a month the prior year. The number of manufacturing jobs fell while healthcare employment accounted for more than 100% of the jobs that were created. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4% when Trump took office. Lastly, long-term unemployment increased; a quarter of those unemployed have been out of work for more than 26 weeks.

Paul Krugman likewise mused that just a couple of weeks ago, Trump “[t]alked about a golden age, about fantastic job growth like nothing you’ve ever seen. Boasted about low gasoline prices, which he said were below $2.30 a gallon in most states.” Of course, there was not a “a single actually true number in the speech,” and the entire premise of the speech — Greatest economy ever! — was just more nonsense.

In fact, the job market turned out to be worse than it appeared to be just a couple of weeks ago. The March jobs report adjusted the December 2025 number downward by 65,000 jobs, from +48,000 to -17,000. That means rather than 181,000 jobs created in 2025, only 116,000 jobs were created for the entire year — less than the average number of jobs created per month under Joe Biden. Was February really such a shocker? (Perhaps folks were thrown off by the bizarrely out-of-whack January number, which was also reduced downward to 126,000.) And now, thanks to Trump’s war, oil prices soared over $100 per barrel over the weekend.

Trump is not the unfortunate victim of job “losses”; he is destroying jobs, especially manufacturing jobs. “Spending on manufacturing construction declined steadily during 2025 as Trump imposed tariffs (which increase uncertainty around input costs) and moved to halt Biden-era investment programs, like the poorly named Inflation Reduction Act,” Rattner reminded us. And in savaging medical and scientific grants and going to war with universities, Trump is further undercutting one of America’s greatest sources of long-term growth and productivity — our advantage in scientific prowess and innovation.

In the near term, we can see that a major cause of the job downturn is Trump’s mass deportation scheme. “The latest numbers show that net migration into the United States fell by more than half, and that reality is now reflected in the latest employment report,” the Center for American Progress found. Moreover, “native-born workers haven’t seen their wages or employment prospects rise under this new immigration approach.” CAP explained: “Immigration is the driving force behind America’s labor supply growth, accounting for about half of labor force growth each year for the past three decades and an even larger share in recent years.” When you have declining birth rates and choke off immigrants, who have higher job participation, then “negative job growth could become the new normal, according to some estimates.”

No single factor can account for the rotten jobs performance, but a self-destructive immigration policy coupled with massive taxes (which are what tariffs are), undoubtedly dragged on job creation. It was not as if Trump had not been warned that he was sabotaging America’s economy.

Now, Trump has launched an unnecessary, open-ended war that threatens to shock the entire global economy. “Any event that extends the conflict or threatens sources of oil and gas is likely to lift energy prices to levels that would sow inflation. That could prompt central banks worldwide to raise interest rates, pushing up the costs of mortgages, car loans, and other borrowing,” the New York Times reported. “And that would choke off consumer spending and business investment — a classic pathway to a downturn.”

In a written statement, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) explained, “Already under strain from the President’s disastrous trade war and anti-immigrant crusade, our economy is extremely ill-prepared to deal with yet another wave of Trump-induced chaos, this time in the form of an illegal war of choice in the Middle East which is rapidly driving up energy prices across the globe.”

But Trump seems incapable of doing anything other than making matters worse. His ever-changing rationale for the war and lengthening timeline create more volatility. His inane comment that we would accept only “unconditional surrender” (are we planning a land invasion to take by force a country of over 90 million people?) spooked the oil markets. Perhaps when oil prices soar above $150 per barrel, his party will revolt.

The only question is how long Republicans will allow Trump’s shambolic economic policies to drive us into recession. After all, the MAGA congressional majorities could end his job-killing tariffs, reform and rein in ICE, and end this war. Unless they move quickly, however, they will have no excuses in November when they get clobbered at the ballot box.

In sum, we really should stop saying the economy “lost” jobs — or that anything is surprising or unexpected about Trump crashing the economy. His and his MAGA supplicants’ erratic, wrongheaded policies and destabilizing wars are killing employment and growth while fueling inflation. The only question is if and when they will decide to reverse course.

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