President Trump pressured Fed Chair Jerome Powell once again to slash interest rates after a Wednesday report showed weaker-than-expected hiring across the private sector.
Private employers added just 37,000 jobs in May, sinking to the lowest level since March 2023, according to data released by payrolls processing firm ADP on Wednesday.
That’s a decline from the revised 60,000 jobs in April and far below the Dow Jones forecast for 110,000.
“ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE. He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social soon after the report’s release.
Wednesday’s ADP report reveals a drastic slowdown in hiring, at least in the private sector, while economists await nonfarm payrolls data set to be released Friday.
It’s expected to show a gain of 125,000 and a steady unemployment rate at 4.2%.
“This is the worst ADP payrolls report we’ve had in quite some time,” Jesse Cohen, senior financial analyst at Investing.com, wrote in a post on X.
“The data points to a slowing labor market and raises the chances of multiple rate cuts by the Fed this year.”
Trump has long pushed Powell, whose term expires in 2026, to lower interest rates – even calling the Federal Reserve chairman to the White House to make such demands, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Powell and other central bankers have maintained a relatively upbeat outlook on the economy, though they have cautioned of increased uncertainty and a heightened risk of stagflation due to Trump’s hefty tariffs.
“After a strong start to the year, hiring is losing momentum,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a statement.
“Pay growth, however, was little changed in May, holding at robust levels for both job-stayers and job-changers,” she continued.
Annual pay was up 4.5% for job-stayers and 7% for job-changers compared to the year before.
According to Wednesday’s report, goods-producing industries lost 2,000 jobs in May, with a decline of 5,000 in natural resources and mining positions and a loss of 3,000 in manufacturing offset by an additional 6,000 positions in construction.
In service industries, leisure and hospitality added 38,000 jobs and financial activities added 20,000.
But losses of 17,000 in professional and business services, 13,000 in education and health and 4,000 in trade, transportation and utilities weighed on the sector.
Small firms employing less than 50 employees saw a loss of 13,000 and large companies with more than 500 staffers reported a decline of 3,000. Mid-size establishments gained 49,000.
Recent economic data has come in mixed on the labor market.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that job openings totaled nearly 7.4 million, a higher increase than expected.
The Fed is largely expected to keep interest rates in the target 4.25% to 4.5% range at their meeting later this month, according to CME FedWatch.
Credit: Source link
