Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Trump’s Treasury Secretary Thinks It’s Good That the Economy Is Bad

newrepublic.com · 3h · first reportShare

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants you to think that a weak job market is a good thing. CNBC’s Sara Eisen asked Bessent to comment on recent signs that the job market was cracking. Bessent downplayed the “noisy” numbers suggesting the job market was not stable. “The jobs that we’re seeing are going to Americans,” Bessent. “After the deportations that we’ve seen during the President Trump administration and the closing of the border, that’s like this unfettered migration, we don’t need to produce as many jobs.” Bessent on the latest bad jobs report: "After the deportations that we've seen and the closing of the border, we don't need to produce as many jobs" pic.twitter.com/kStWCiXAz5 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 20, 2026 In July, the U.S. labor market shed 23,000 jobs, a worrying sign when paired with high gas prices and tariff-based inflation. Notably, women accounted for 100 percent of that decline: losing 32,000 jobs, while men gained 9,000. The report also revised down job gr