Solidifying fears of a negative impact of the Administration’s chaotic tariff and trade policy, U.S. employers have largely stopped investing in new labor.

The June jobs numbers came in well below estimates at just 73,000 new jobs created last month. Furthermore, and more concern, the revisions for May showed that hiring was much lower than first reported.

Combined, the U.S. economy lost an astonishing 258,000 jobs in May and June!

That is over a quarter of a million people in the United States who were not hired.

All this amounted to a jump in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.

Much of this upheaval can be attributed to Trump’s chaotic tariff policy, which has resulted in almost every country on the planet facing punishing import tariffs and many retaliating with tariffs of their own.

It is hard for businesses to justify the investment in new labor when they have uncertainty about input costs for the goods they need, which are often sourced from outside of America.

Further adding to the concern that the U.S. economy is heading in the wrong direction, construction spending plunged to -0.4% in June. All those new factories that Trump promised would be coming back to the United States have yet to materialize.

Ultimately, if the job market continues to decline, the American consumer can expect higher prices and less income.