Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. Right now, we want to turn back to the labor market. The US economy added just seventy three thousand jobs in July, below almost all estimates. And joining us now and please just say we have Labor Secretary Lori Chavez d Ramir. Great to have you with US. Secretary. Let's just start with these numbers, because the figure that we got that was below all estimates in the Bloomberg survey of economists to start.
What's your reaction, Well, certainly, we know they could have been better, but you know, we look at the positive because we still have a net positive almost a half a million new jobs since the President took office. Where did we see some of these you know gains. We saw them in healthcare, we're seeing them in construction. We are seeing the revisions I knows something to talk about,
and they were unexpected, those revisions. But most of those sixty two percent of those were in education and seasonal workforce. So you know, we sometimes see the numbers catch up to what's on the ground. But I can tell you why we're positive is because the President is delivering on these trade deals, these tariff deals, understanding new countries are moving forward and wanting to be at the table. And
why does that matter to the American business owner? As you all know, I've been on my fifty state tour. I just returned from several states. A lot of these business owners had some uncertainty and understanding what was going to happen. But now that the one big, beautiful bill is done, I feel like the table has been set and we're seeing those investments happen. So we've seen positive job growth for sure, and they've been for the American workforce.
Native born workers are taking the lead. All job gains have been native born workers.
I mean, with all due respect the positive job growth. The most positive months you saw were still what the Trump administration was calling the Biden economy. Right for the first few months, when we saw those big numbers, that was the Biden economy. Now that the Trump policy is taking effect, you're seeing downward revisions of two hundred and fifty eight thousand over the last couple of months, only
seventy three thousand jobs added. And it looks like, not just to me, but to participants in this market, that today's week payroll numbers are a direct result of the conscious policy to limit immigration, and I'm just wondering if that trade off is delivering the kind of benefits you want to see to US born workers.
Well, I can tell you this, I've been a business owner for twenty years. When we make decisions, we look at all aspects, and there's certainly snapshots. But what has happened on the ground, the one big beautiful bill by Congress, the President leaning in and keeping the promises made by negotiating fair trade deals for the American workforce. And now what we need is the Federal Reserve to jump in
and lower those interest rates. I talked to businesses just yesterday who said, you know, we've invested in our American workers, We're paying attention to our facilities. We're wanting to invest in borrow more money, but they're concerned with borrowing that more money. So that's another leg of the stool that can be done. We should all be rowing in the same direction.
But is it the only leg of the stool that matters, Madam Secretary, Because we had a three month run rate adding one hundred and fifty thousand jobs, and now that those policies that this administration has put into effect are active, we're looking at a run rate a three month run rate of thirty seven thousand, So it's drastically fallen. And what it looks like is the policies that you're putting into place are reducing job growth.
Strong job growth has happened three point nine percent over the last year. Consumer confidence is up, unemployment is holding steady again. Almost a half a million new jobs have been added since President Trump has leaned in.
I can tell you this.
It's not the only leg of the stool for interest rates, but it's one of the important legs right now because as businesses now know that the table is set with the one big beautiful bill, they know that they can have the right offs for their businesses. They understand that they will have the skilled work for MY job on the ground is provide that workforce. They're asking me, and I'm asking them to invest in their workers, invest in their companies, invest in their businesses across the country to
grow this economy. And that's what they're looking for now. They want those interest rates down, and Jerome Pale should do that. The President has leaned in for a reason, and that's to keep those promises that he made. We're going to continue to see over time those numbers go up. But what we've seen federal jobs have been down. That's what the President promise. We've seen local economy. We've seen eighty four percent of the job growth has been in
the private sector. Why because the President has said that he is investing in the American worker first. That's what we're all about. I want these workers trained. We're seeing it in AI. We're leaning in with our federal and state partners together to say, let us give you the workers that you need for market demands and your respective states. I think that that's the focus that needs to be well.
Secretary, I want to talk about some specific industries here. One of the interesting stats out of this numbers report that is that without healthcare, actually the last three months of payroll gains, it would have been negative in May, negative in June, and negative in July. And then you take a look at manufacturing shedding another eleven thousand jobs. You take a look at the six months change shedding
twenty eight thousand jobs. What are the specific policies that the administration has and is putting in place to revive the manufacturing sector, because so far it looks like it's continuing to shrink.
Well, I think that that's probably what we just talked about. Those trade deals are now coming online again. I was just in Japan last week with the Secretary of Treasury and that trade deal came in. We see the European Union has come in. We're seeing other countries as well. It's that certainty that we have to give businesses that that is being done, and then as well that they're going to have the workforce. So what do we have to do. I'm working with the Department of Education. I
am working to skill those that workforce. We're working with our community colleges, our technical schools. Businesses are investing in centers of excellence. They just need a quarter turn for those workers to be trained and ready to go. One of those ways is executive orders to work with our state partners in order to get them trained and really lean in and have them right there on the ground. So when you see the uncertainty or the numbers drop over time, it's a snapshot in time. It doesn't make
a trend. We're seeing it over time. The President has this right. The American business owner is believing in what they see and now with this one big beautiful bill, and if interest rates drop. I think that you're going to see more and more investments. I really couldn't be more clear. When I'm talking to these business owners on the ground. I've visited twenty states. They are all excited. They all understand their marching orders now, and that's to
invest in the American worker. And we're going to continue to double down and do just that.
Well, it does look like we're going to see interest rates cut at the next meeting, at least the market is pricing that in Madam Secretary, and we're looking at rates drop really across the curve today. The ten year down around four twenty five is relatively low. With that backdrop and the tax policy of the One Big Beautiful Bill, and the deregulation that this administration has promised, what kind of jobs growth do you expect us to get back to this year.
Well, I'm making the assumption that with all of those being in play, when I think about the deregulatory framework that the President also has asked us to do, the Department of Labor has just issued sixty three deregulatory actions in Trump administration, one thirty deregulatory actions were done over the four years. We've already done sixty three in the first six months, and we're going to be looking to our companies to weigh in on this, because what does
the President want, modernization, streamlining, cost cutting. He wants to be an ally for the American workforce, not an adversary. And for far too long, you know, the Department of Labor or any other agency has not said, we're going to be your partners. So we will continue to go around the country. We will continue to lean in on interest rates, on investments from companies on the worker because we want to keep more money in their pockets. And
we're seeing that consumer confidence. Wage growth is up, so there's a lot of positive here. We'd like to see better numbers, but we're going to continue to double down so those numbers continue to grow.
All right, Secretary, have to leave it there. Really appreciate your time this morning. That is Labor Secretary Lori Chavez de Rimer