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A new monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) points to troubling signs for the so-called “Trump Economy.”
According to the agency’s February jobs report, which was released late last week, the total number of jobs in the U.S. dropped by 92,000 for the month. The BLS report also included updates for the previous two months, showing downward revisions of 65,000 jobs for December and 4,000 for January.
Looking at the first full year that President Donald Trump has been in office — from February 2025 to last month — the U.S. saw a net 156,000 new jobs created over that period of time. While that’s a net positive number, it’s an 85 percent slowdown in new jobs created compared to the year before Trump reentered the White House.
Perhaps more tellingly, since April 2025, there has been a net job loss in the U.S. economy. Notably, that month was the start of Trump’s massive global tariffs.
Democrats placed direct blame on the Trump administration for the poor jobs numbers.
The February jobs report “underscores the complete wreckage of Trump and Republicans’ agenda,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) said in a statement. “Their failed policies have led to job losses, higher prices and a weaker economy.”
There are also additional signs that the “Trump Economy” is faltering.
Inflation continues to increase prices for consumer goods, with a report earlier this year showing that prices went up by 2.7 percent for the entirety of 2025. That same report found that Americans are paying 2.4 percent more for grocery items, with huge increases on some staple items, such as coffee and meat.
Indeed, since the start of Trump’s second term, Americans have paid an average of around $700 more per month to purchase items considered to be basic needs.
Gas prices are also going up, a direct result of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The week before the war started, gas prices in the U.S. were around $2.937 per gallon on average. As of Monday morning, according to statistics compiled by AAA, gas prices are now around $3.478 per gallon, an 18 percent increase in prices.
In a recent interview, Trump acted nonchalant about the idea of gas prices going up, despite his vows during his 2024 presidential campaign that prices would dramatically decrease during his tenure.
“I don’t have any concern about it…if they rise, they rise,” Trump said, claiming the war in Iran is “far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
Trump reiterated that sentiment in a Truth Social post over the weekend.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” he wrote. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
Public approval for the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is low as the administration offers shifting explanations for why the war is being waged at all. According to a recent CNN/SSRS poll, 59 percent of Americans are opposed to the war. Fifty-nine percent also said they do not “trust Donald Trump to make the right decisions about US use of force in Iran.”
As the war drags on — and as the U.S. and Israel increasingly target oil production sites within Iran — it is likely that gas prices will only continue to rise.
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