In a Truth Social post on Friday, President Donald Trump defended himself against criticisms over his handling of the U.S. economy, following the release of the recent unemployment rate and amid polling showing Trump’s lowest approval rating on the economy since taking office.
“The only reason our Unemployment ticked up to 4.5% is because we are reducing the Government Workforce by numbers that have never been seen before,” said Trump, who mistated the recent national unemployment rate, which was actually 4.6% in November, not 4.5%. He added, “100% OF OUR NEW JOBS ARE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR!”
In his attempt to defend the latest jobs report, Trump also defended, and seemingly bragged, about his administration’s reductions in federal jobs, which analysts note have disproportionately impacted Black Americans, namely Black women, who make up a disproportionate share of the federal workforce.
“I could reduce Unemployment to 2% overnight by just hiring people into the Federal Government, even though those Jobs are not necessary. I wish the Fake News would report the 4.5% correctly. What I am doing is the only way to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” said.
To date, Trump has sought to severely cut the number of workers within the federal government through RIFs, or reductions in force, and has pressured many to resign. By the year’s end, an estimated 317,000 federal employees would have left the federal government under Trump, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
But Trump’s claim that job losses were only in the public sector are false. The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics shows that the unemployment rate for government workers was 2.7%, much lower than the rate for nonagricultural workers (4.1%), agriculture workers (11.6%), and self-employed workers (3.4%). Among federal workers, Black Americans, who comprise a disproportionate share of the federal workforce, have been particularly hit.
“Only Donald Trump could brag about firing federal workers while misreporting the unemployment rate, but that’s because he doesn’t care about the people he’s put out of work or the policies that have made life harder for working-class families,” said Brandon Weathersby, a spokesperson for the political research firm, American Bridge 21st Century.
Black Americans have felt the harms of Trump’s economy the worse with an unemployment rate of 8.3%, much higher than the national rate despite making up only 13% of the U.S. population. Like the national rate, the Black unemployment rate is the highest its been in four years during the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the U.S. and global economies.
Weathersby told theGrio, “Black workers, who are overrepresented in the federal workforce, have been hit hard by mass layoffs, and working families across the country are grappling with an economy featuring the highest unemployment levels since the pandemic era, stagnant wages, and rising costs for essential goods and services.
Oakland Mayor and former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee told theGrio, “What you see with Donald Trump in terms of the bias and the racism in his policies, where diversity, equity and inclusion is being dismantled as we speak…structurally and systemically, he is rolling back the clock to the days before Jim Crow and setting up a system that will perpetuate racial and economic inequities.”
Lee added, “The Black unemployment rate in Oakland and everywhere in the country is higher than any unemployment rate when you look at the disparities.”
The Oakland mayor said she and many other Black mayors see themselves as “standing in the gap” between Trump’s policies and the harm its causing on their Black constituents.
She continued, “At the same time, resisting much of what he is doing and putting forth an agenda that’s inclusive of everybody.”
Weathersby rebuked Trump, who he said “collects lavish gifts from foreign leaders, mocks the very idea of affordability as a ‘hoax,’ and complains about the news exposing the harm he is causing families.”
He added, “Every dollar families struggle to stretch is a reminder that Trump’s priorities are luxury and spectacle, not the people who keep the country running.”
