The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 14th (local time) that the tariff policy shock of the second Trump administration is causing American companies to halt hiring, leading to stagnation in the labor market’s growth.
According to the FT, there has been a decline in jobs in sectors such as manufacturing, retail, and energy over the past few months.
Companies have cited increased costs due to Trump’s import tariffs and business expansion challenges due to uncertainties as the reasons for this decline.
The CEO of Robin’s, a guitar pedal manufacturer in Akron, Ohio, said, “There’s nothing good about it. Sudden taxation is hindering our ability to employ and grow.”
As employment conditions worsen, economists are widely expecting that the Federal Reserve Board will lower the benchmark interest rate for the first time this year during its meeting this week.
Last month, Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, stated that slower job growth might offset the inflationary effects of Trump’s large-scale tariff increases.
President Trump has dismissed concerns about increased costs for firms or employment contraction as temporary, arguing that high tariffs will lead to a resurgence in manufacturing and job creation.
The recently released employment statistics for August in the U.S. specifically revealed a slowdown in employment growth among American companies.
The number of new jobs was limited to 22,000, with significant job losses in the goods production sector exposed to the “Trump tariffs.”
FT reported that the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggests that labor market growth began to slow sharply even before the start of the second Trump administration.
The U.S. oil industry, which had donated large sums of political contributions to Trump as a candidate, also suffered significant impacts from the tariffs.
Amidst the pressure from falling crude oil prices, the repercussions of the tariff policy led to reduced sales and raised the prices of steel and equipment.
However, some entrepreneurs have maintained an optimistic view, stating that tariffs will ultimately help revive the U.S. domestic industry.