Is the American job market running out of steam? The latest jobs report shows the US added only 22,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate crept up to 4.3%—the highest level in nearly four years. This isn't a blip: over the past three months, average job gains have slipped to a mere 29,000 per month, the slowest pace since 2010 (excluding the pandemic disaster years). Why such a sharp slowdown?
The roots run deep: President Trump’s tariff blitz, unpredictable policy shifts, and immigration crackdowns have turned what was once a broad-based recovery into a narrow, fragile job market. Manufacturing and other "goods" sectors have posted four straight months of declines, while even federal government jobs are shrinking as spending gets squeezed. Health care stands alone as the only significant job creator (adding 46,800 jobs in August), but that sector covers just 15% of the workforce—leaving 85% of Americans outside the hiring boom.
Especially concerning: unemployment among Black workers rose to 7.5%, often seen as the economy’s canary in the coal mine.
