Unemployment Rate Hits Highest Level in 4 Years Amid Trump’s Assault on Workers

Federal data belatedly released Tuesday shows that the US unemployment rate rose to the highest level in four years last month as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its assault on the government’s workforce and American corporations lay off workers at a level not seen in decades.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, up from 4.4% in September, according to the Labor Department report, whose release was delayed due to the recent government shutdown.

US employers added 64,000 jobs last month following the loss of 105,000 jobs in October, fueled by the Trump administration’s large-scale layoffs of federal workers. The manufacturing sector, which Trump has promised to bolster with his tariff regime, shed 5,000 jobs in November, according to the newly published federal data.

Over the past six months, the US has averaged just 17,000 jobs added per month — a number that underscored concerns about the frailty of Trump’s economy.

“Today’s long-awaited jobs report confirms what we already suspected: Trump’s economy is stalling out and American workers are paying the price,” said Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the Groundwork Collaborative. “Far from sparking a manufacturing renaissance, Trump’s reckless trade agenda is bleeding working-class jobs, forcing layoffs, and raising prices for businesses and consumers alike. Trump may give himself an A++++ on the economy, but these latest jobs numbers are failing working families.”

Another notable trend in today's payroll release is the gradual slowdown in nominal wage growth. As the unemployment rate rises, workers struggle to find jobs and have less leverage when it comes to demand higher wages. Both indicate a slowdown in affordability for workers and their families.

— Elise Gould (@elisegould.bsky.social) 2025-12-16T15:17:56.570Z

The new figures were released after Trump kicked off a tour of battleground states in an effort to defend his economic policies, which voters — including many of the president’s own — increasingly blame for driving up prices. Trump and White House officials have insisted, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that the US economy is stronger than it’s ever been.

Julie Su, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and former acting head of the Labor Department, said Tuesday that “for months, Donald Trump and his administration have been hiding data about the economy, leaving workers and employers in the dark when trying to make critical hiring decisions.”

“But you can’t hide the reality every American knows,” said Su. “An economy where costs are too high for people to afford the basic necessities and also can’t find jobs is an economic crisis that requires massive change so that working people can actually come out on top.”