The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from March 2023 to March 2024 than the Bureau of Labor Statistics first reported, signaling further vulnerability in the labor market as Vice President Kamala Harris scrambles to defend her economic record along the campaign trail.
Only about 2.1 million jobs were added during the year, a 28 percent drop from the initially reported 2.9 million, according to the Labor Department’s revision on Wednesday. It marks the largest downward adjustment since 2009, Bloomberg reported.
The news spells trouble for the Harris campaign, as it undercuts her claims of a strong economy and labor market under the Biden-Harris administration despite economists’ warning of an imminent recession. Harris has repeatedly praised "Bidenomics," saying in August 2023 that the employment figures "reflect the point that President Biden has made many times: America’s economy is strong and experiencing stable and steady growth."
Employment data are a critical indicator of the overall health of the labor market, and Wednesday's revision, in addition to a larger-than-expected drop in job growth in recent months, puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates amid growing fears of an imminent recession, according to CNN. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates from near 0 percent in March 2022 and kept them above 5 percent since May 2023.
"The labor market appears weaker than originally reported," Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, told Fox News. "A deteriorating labor market will allow the Fed to highlight both sides of the dual mandate and investors should expect the Fed to prepare markets for a cut [in interest rates] at the September meeting."
Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday that there are "risks that the labor market has not been as strong as the payroll data have been indicating."
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