THE MORNING RANT: About that “Bad” Jobs Report Last Week: Private-Sector Jobs Increased, Government Jobs Decreased

Following the release of last week’s jobs report, which showed that total employment in the U.S. had dropped by 23,000 persons, there was a lot of high-fiving and chest bumping among Democrats and their NeverTrump “conservative” allies. The message they are triumphantly bleating is that the Trump economy is shedding jobs.

It’s partially true – the Trump economy is causing some people to lose their jobs, especially government workers and non-citizens. We elected Donald Trump to do just that.

Lost amidst all the triumphal “bad jobs report” noise is the fact that private-sector employment is increasing, with solid gains in manufacturing and construction jobs. This is consistent with the point I keep hammering in recent articles at The American Spectator, discussing how there is an explosion of industrial construction going on right now in the U.S.

This headline from Bloomberg was typical, but at least it did note that concurrent with lost jobs, the unemployment rate actually fell: “U.S. Employers Unexpectedly Shed Jobs; Unemployment Rate Falls”

The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as labor force participation continued to slide.

Yes, “labor force participation” by non-citizens decreased. But the unemployment rate keeps falling as actual U.S. citizens gain employment. Buried in this Bloomberg piece is another interesting number:

Private-sector payrolls rose by 30,000 for a second month…

So to be clear, private-sector employers are not actually shedding jobs, it’s government that is shedding jobs. As reported by NBC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ”showed a 5,000 payroll gain in the manufacturing sector in July and an additional 22,000 roles in construction.”

This CNBC piece further explains that ”The main reason for the red headline number was a loss of 53,000 government workers.”

The math works, and I’m not terribly bothered by this math: 53,000 displaced government workers were mostly offset by 30,000 new private sector jobs, resulting in a net loss of 23,000. I’d like to see continued momentum in both of these inputs – more reductions in government employment and accelerating private-sector job creation. To be clear, I don’t wish economic harm to those displaced government workers. I’d like for them to find gainful employment in the private sector.

I’m going to repeat myself on the political significance of reducing government employment. All of those “Reagan conservatives” in legacy media who incessantly state that “Trump is not a true conservative” spent decades promoting “smaller government.” Suckers like me contributed money and bought subscriptions, believing they meant it. They didn’t. Trump is now doing what Conservatism, Inc. pretended to advocate for, and now all those “Reagan conservatives” are allying with Democrats and the left to protect the government behemoth from Trump.

Here are a few more headlines about who is losing their jobs in the “Trump economy”:

“U.S. Employers Told to Dismiss Thousands of Immigrant Workers” [NY Times – 7/10/2026]

“Federal workforce shrank 10% in Trump’s first year back in office” [Pew Research – 3/13/2026]

“Employers Fear Labor Shortage as Many Immigrants Lose Protected Status” [NY Times – 7/26/2026]

“Laid-off H-1B workers return to India, face lower pay as Big Tech expands GCCs” [The American Bazaar – 7/09/2026]

“Is the American Dream fading? Inside the ‘reverse migration’ of Indian techies from US” [Firstpost – 8/034/2026]

This is why Trump was elected.

We need to be careful not to get swayed by headlines that conflate foreigners and government workers losing their jobs with what is going on regarding private-sector hiring of U.S. citizens. There is good news on that front, and it’s getting better.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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