President Trump cited a long-used statistic — that total employment is higher than at any point in U.S. history — but the figure is unsurprising because the workforce grows with population and does not show whether the economy is creating net jobs. Recent data are discouraging: job openings fell by 386,000 to 6.542 million in December (the lowest since Sept. 2020), and January layoffs were the worst since 2009. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the January unemployment report on Wednesday, Feb. 11 for a fuller read on the labor market.
Jobs Slide While Trump Leans on a Misleading Stat — Why Total Employment Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
President Trump repeated a familiar talking point when asked about the weakening labor market: that more people are employed now than at any time in U.S. history. While technically true, the claim is misleading because total employment naturally rises with population and does not by itself indicate whether the economy is producing enough net jobs.
Beyond the rhetorical flourish — the statistic in question was not a new announcement and has been cited by Trump before — the more important question is whether the labor market is strengthening or softening. On that measure, recent data point to growing strain.
What The Latest Data Show
Reuters reported that U.S. job openings fell by 386,000 to 6.542 million in December, the lowest level since September 2020, according to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The Reuters story noted revisions lowering prior-month figures and described the trend as a softening in labor-market conditions at the end of 2025.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 11: Recently laid off U.S. State Department employees walk out carrying boxes from the Harry S. Truman Federal Building on July 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. The State Department is proceeding with layoffs just two days after the Supreme Court overturned a lower-court order that had temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump's administration plan to cut federal jobs, affecting more than 1,300 department employees. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
“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.”
CNBC also reported a troubling uptick in employer separations: layoffs for the most recent month were the worst for any January since 2009, the depths of the Great Recession. Those two signals — fewer openings and rising layoffs — suggest cooling demand for workers.
Why The ‘More Jobs Than Ever’ Line Is Incomplete
Total employment rising is expected as the population grows and more people enter the labor force. What matters more for economic health are metrics such as net job creation, labor-force participation rates, wage gains, and the balance between openings and separations. Excluding recession years, the first year of Mr. Trump’s second term was reported as the weakest for the U.S. job market in more than two decades — a stark contrast to the impression given by citing only total employment.
What To Watch Next
The Bureau of Labor Statistics delayed the usual first-Friday release of the official January unemployment report because of a recent partial government shutdown; it will now publish those figures on Wednesday, Feb. 11. That report will provide a clearer snapshot of unemployment, labor-force participation, and whether the recent softening in job openings is being reflected in broader employment measures.
Bottom line: A headline claim about total jobs can be technically correct but still obscure the reality of a cooling labor market. Policymakers, reporters, and the public should focus on the trend in net job creation and other indicators that reveal underlying strength or weakness.
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