President Donald Trump said that Friday’s jobs report should result in additional market growth, a line he has consistently pushed during his 17 months back in office.
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that new payrolls jumped by 172,000 in May, more than double the expectations of economic analysts. The unemployment rate stayed constant at 4.3%, while April’s job numbers were also revised up by roughly 100,000.
“With a great Jobs Report, like just announced, stocks should go up, not down. That’s the way it was for 200 years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning, shortly after BLS published its report. “Growth does not mean inflation! How else can a Country attain GREATNESS???”
Despite the latest BLS data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ index were all down in the early hours of trading on Friday.
CAN CUTTING RED TAPE MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE AGAIN?
Trump has been searching for positive economic indicators as the ongoing war in Iran has continued to keep prices high. Domestic gas prices averaged above $4 per gallon at the end of May, a more than $1 increase from pre-war levels.
Furthermore, ongoing inflation has decreased the chances that newly minted Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will lower interest rates before the end of the year, though Trump repeatedly pressured former chairman Jerome Powell on the subject.