A new jobs report is fantastic news for President Donald Trump as it shows manufacturing jobs are coming back and native-born workers are benefitting the most.
“Today’s jobs report shows American manufacturing is on the rebound thanks to President Donald J. Trump and his administration,” the White House said in a press release.
“The country gained 10,000 manufacturing jobs in President Trump’s first full month in office — a swift turnaround after losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing jobs per month, or 111,000 total, in the final year of the Biden Administration,” the press release added.
“The rebound in manufacturing jobs was led by the automobile sector, which gained 8,900 new jobs in February — after losing 27,300 auto jobs in Biden’s final year — showing that firms are reshoring production and positively responding to President Trump’s trade policies,” it said.
“The manufacturing turnaround has been confirmed by S&P Global’s own U.S. manufacturing survey, which surged last month to its highest level since June 2022, and the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, which returned to expansion territory after 26 consecutive months of contraction,” the release noted further.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted the new jobs report as a victory for the Trump administration.
“In one month under President Trump, the American economy is soaring back to greatness after the economic calamity left by Joe Biden. The manufacturing industry is already rebounding as there were 9,000 new auto jobs created — the most auto jobs added in 15 months! Under President Trump, the private sector is leading the way — 93% of the job gains in February were in the private sector. This is great news for American workers and families. The Trump Administration will continue to work hard to implement pro-growth policies and push Congress to enact the Trump Economic Agenda,” she said.
The report showed that the automobile manufacturing industry added 8,900 jobs in February after it lost around 27,000 jobs the previous year under former President Joe Biden.
A whopping 93 percent of the new jobs came from the private sector, not the federal government, as regulatory burdens on businesses have already been relaxed through a series of executive orders and actions directed by President Trump since taking office Jan. 20.
For native-born American workers, the news was particularly promising, as numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 284,000 native-born workers got new jobs last month, while 87,000 foreign-born workers lost jobs.
It also showed that 367,000 native-born workers joined the workforce while 66,000 foreign-born workers left it.
Juxtapose those numbers with January’s numbers, the last of the Biden administration: The United States added fewer jobs than anticipated in January as the Federal Reserve waits to see labor market and inflation data before deciding on whether or not to adjust interest rates, Fox Business reported.
Also, the unemployment rate was at 4 percent, which was lower than what was anticipated by economists — another good sign for Trump.
“The number of jobs added in the prior two months were both revised, with job creation in November revised up by 49,000 from a gain of 212,000 to 261,000, while December was revised up by 51,000 from a gain of 256,000 to 307,000. Taken together, 100,000 more jobs were created in those two months than previously reported,” the report said.
The private sector was expected to add 141,000 jobs but only added 111,000, according to government data, though these numbers could be revised upward over the next few weeks.
There was also some good news regarding wages, which grew half a percent from the previous month and 4.1 percent from the same time a year prior.
The retail industry added 34,300 jobs in January, while general merchandise retailers added 31,200 jobs and furniture retailers added 5,300.
Electronics and appliance retailers saw a decrease in jobs of 7,000.
“Social assistance added 22,300 jobs, led by individual and family services (+20,100) with gains also occurring in community food and housing, emergency and other relief services (+4,400). The sector grew by an average of 20,000 jobs a month last year,” the report said.
“The mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction industry lost 7,700 jobs in January, with losses concentrated in mining support activities. The sector experienced little net change in 2024,” it said.