Fox Business hosts were left gulping on-air Friday as the latest U.S. jobs report whiffed on expectations, with employers adding just 22,000 positions last month and the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.3 percent, the highest since 2021. Panelists repeatedly called the report “disappointing,” admitting there is “a lot of concern” about the softening labor market.
The weak print capped a rough summer for hiring, with the Labor Department also revealing that June actually lost 13,000 jobs, the first monthly decline since December 2020. July’s gains were trimmed too, reinforcing the picture of a labor market that has cooled markedly since spring.
Even the sector breakdown had little sugar to offer. Health care posted gains, but they were offset by cuts in federal employment and continued struggles in manufacturing, which shed another 12,000 jobs in August. Those patterns mirror a months-long slowdown as companies tighten belts amid policy uncertainty and softer demand.
On Fox Business, the mood swung from grim to grimmer. Hosts and guests emphasized the miss versus forecasts and the jump in joblessness, a notable shift for a channel that typically spotlights optimistic beats in the data. One panel segment conceded the numbers were “disappointing,” and another pointed out that worries are mounting over whether the slowdown sticks into the fall.
Wall Street had a more complicated reaction. Stocks initially bounced on hopes the Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates at its next meeting, while bond yields slipped as traders bet on easier policy to cushion the economy. But for workers, the headline was hard to spin: fewer new paychecks, more people out of work, and a recovery that looks like it is running on fumes.
Today we learned that in June the US economy lost jobs for the first time since 2020. We haven’t seen this kind of net job loss since – well, since the last time Trump was in charge.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) September 5, 2025
Policy, particularly trade policy, is in the spotlight too. Analysts have tied some of the hiring chill to the bite from tariffs and the broader uncertainty they create for supply chains and business investment. Manufacturing and federal payroll losses have been persistent throughout the year, and revisions continuing to move downward only sharpen the sense that momentum has faded.
How bad are today’s job numbers?
Trump talking Epstein bad.
Which reminds us, release the files! pic.twitter.com/cxJ2tUWQzF
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 5, 2025
The politics are brutal. Supporters of President Donald Trump argue that a rate cut could revive growth and that private investment will reaccelerate as companies adapt. Critics counter that tariffs have weighed on factory activity and that the administration’s combative stance with trading partners has added headwinds just as consumer momentum cools. Either way, the scoreboard the public sees each month now looks a lot less rosy than it did earlier in the year.
The August jobs report delivered a reality check. 22,000 new jobs, an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, and a rare June job loss revised into the books, all of it enough to rattle cable chatter and feed recession whispers. For Fox Business, the spin cycle ran out of thread, and “disappointing” was the word of the day. For the White House, the pressure is on to turn the narrative, and the numbers, around before the next report hits.
Gavin Newsom’s comments are rich…………….he lost 16,000 California jobs when the minimum wage was raised in California. And it is estimated he has lost more than 900,000 jobs since becoming Governor. This is what happens when a lapdog politician tries to run a business called California.