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MaddowBlog-As layoffs surge and job openings fall, Trump offers a meaningless talking point
Is it any wonder why the public strongly disapproves of the president’s economic performance?
As layoffs surge and job openings fall, Trump has a talking point he’s excited about: The workforce is the biggest it’s ever been.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-06T20:26:12.655Z
The trouble is, his talking point means a whole lot less than the data that points to the worst job market Americans have seen in years. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/as-layoffs-surge-and-job-openings-fall-trump-offers-a-meaningless-talking-point
“OK, you ready?” he asked the anchor. “So we have, it was just announced, more jobs right now occupied in the United States of America that at any time during its existence, 250 years.” The president called this a “pretty good stat.”
As is too often the case, Trump, who’s long struggled to understand economic data at even the most basic level, didn’t know what he was talking about. Putting aside the fact that this statistic was not “just announced” — the president started pushing this same line during his first term — the fact that more Americans are in the workforce is far less amazing than he realizes: As the nation’s population grows, the size of the workforce grows with it.,,,,,
Indeed, on the heels of the president’s misplaced comment to Llamas, the public got new data on the job market — all of it discouraging. Reuters reported:
To make matters worse, as job openings dropped, CNBC reported that layoffs last month were the worst in any January since 2009, at the height of the Great Recession.
The fact that all Trump has to offer is a meaningless talking point helps explain why the public strongly disapproves of his economic performance.
As is too often the case, Trump, who’s long struggled to understand economic data at even the most basic level, didn’t know what he was talking about. Putting aside the fact that this statistic was not “just announced” — the president started pushing this same line during his first term — the fact that more Americans are in the workforce is far less amazing than he realizes: As the nation’s population grows, the size of the workforce grows with it.,,,,,
Indeed, on the heels of the president’s misplaced comment to Llamas, the public got new data on the job market — all of it discouraging. Reuters reported:
U.S. job openings dropped to the lowest level in more than five years in December and data for the prior month was revised lower amid a softening in labor market conditions at the end of 2025.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased by 386,000 to 6.542 million by the last day of December, the lowest level since September 2020, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Thursday.
To make matters worse, as job openings dropped, CNBC reported that layoffs last month were the worst in any January since 2009, at the height of the Great Recession.
The fact that all Trump has to offer is a meaningless talking point helps explain why the public strongly disapproves of his economic performance.
