Final Pre-Election Jobs Report Adds to GOP’s Woes

The US economy added a mere 29,000 jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent in what is a blow to the GOP’s hopes of convincing voters ahead of the midterms that the economy is picking up steam.

Even worse, the final jobs report to be released ahead of the midterms also showed that the gains from the previous two months were revised down by a total of 60,000 jobs.

While it is unlikely that most Americans pay close attention to these figures, they do tell a clear story of an economic malaise in terms of the employment situation. This administration’s record in this regard lags far behind that of Joe Biden, who admittedly benefitted from the hiring spree that followed millions of pandemic layoffs.

Still, even compared to his predecessor’s last year, job creation under Donald Trump over the past 20 months has been dismal, as Democrats were quick to point out.

“Since January 2025, Trump’s economy has only added 33,000 jobs a month on average, far below the 120,000-a-month average in 2024,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “At the same time, paychecks are growing at their slowest rate in nearly seven years, outside of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the start of Trump’s war, real wages have fallen 0.7 percent as his failed agenda keeps pushing prices up.”

That last figure is especially significant.

Over the past year, wage growth has lagged behind inflation, which means that the buying power of workers is actually decreasing.

This, as well as the higher costs caused in part because by Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran, are among the main reasons why regular Americans are feeling so negatively about the state of the economy and why the president’s false claims of falling prices aren’t resonating.

Trump may be able to get away with a lot of lies, but anybody who does their own shopping and fills up their own cars knows that the affordability crisis is real.

But while regular Americans are struggling, the rich have been getting richer, including the president and his family.

“This Trump economy might be working for the wealthy and the well connected, but it clearly is leaving workers behind,” said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The poor jobs report also means that the administration is running out of opportunities to pretend that the economy is doing great and that the promised “golden age” has arrived. All that is left ahead of the midterm is an update on inflation and the first estimate of third quarter gross domestic product growth – and it is unlikely that Trump will be able to convince Americans to believe him and not their lying eyes.