Weekend Joe: Trump’s Economy
- frastecon
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Trump's Economy is Not for Us - Layoffs Reach a 22 Year High
Many voters chose Trump because of his boasts of being a successful businessman and his role in the "Apprentice". So far, Trump's businesses are doing fine. But his impact on the general economy has been to stifle job growth and to raise inflation. Coupled with the Republicans' cuts in social safety net programs such as SNAP and health care insurance, the Republicans are jeopardizing the financial and job security of millions of American workers.
Unemployment and layoffs are increasing as a result of Trump policies
Trump's chaotic tariff policy is creating uncertainty, scrambling supply chains, and suppressing industrial production. It is also increasing inflation, which now stands at 3%, which, in turn, suppresses demand for goods and services.
The result is that the ISM index of manufacturing activity has contracted for eight straight months, with accompanying job losses. Since the first of the year, over 4,000 U.S. companies have announced layoffs of 50 or more employees. fThis amounts to over 1 million layoffs, a 65% increase from last year. Last month alone, 153,000 job cuts were announced, the highest monthly total in 22 years.
Trump's vendetta against clean energy, and his cancellation of $22 Billion in funding for such projects, will lead, by one estimate, to the loss of up to 790,000 clean energy jobs by 2030. Trump and Musk's DOGE cuts to federal employment and federal programs has caused the loss of some 300,000 public and private sector jobs. All of this has led to a deteriorating job market. Unemployment in September stood at 4.3% When you include those who could only find part time jobs or have stopped looking, the number is 8.1%.
AI will cause massive dislocations in employment
And this is likely only the beginning. The tech oligopolies, Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, are pouring billions of dollars into AI to increase productivity. That sounds good, and it is (perhaps transformatively so), to a point. How will productivity be boosted? In large part, by eliminating jobs. Amazon recently tipped its hand when it was revealed that it plans to eliminate 600,000 jobs through AI automation. It is little wonder that the tech giants are all contributing to Trump's imperial $300 million ballroom at the White House. They do not want AI to be regulated, and Trump will be happy to oblige.
Nor can you count on the Republicans to provide adequate protection for those workers displaced by AI. To the contrary, this administration's policies are eliminating job opportunities and training programs that would enable displaced workers to find new jobs. Managing the dislocations AI will bring will require careful planning. The Republicans will allow the tech giants to do what they want.
But, wait you say, what about all those new jobs Trump claims to be creating through his tariffs and trade deals? Look closely, much of the new investment has been spurred by Biden administration's subsidies and programs. And talk is cheap. Remember Trump's boasts about the new Foxconn factory in Wisconsin he negotiated with the promise of 13,000 jobs. Never built.
So, Trump, the businessman, is doing fine. But for the rest of us, not so much. Do Trump and the Republicans care? What do you think? More on this later.
Weekend Joe
Joe Elliott
Carolann Connor
Tom Abram
Check out other informative Weekend Joe posts covering issues such as changes in Medicaid, Chuck Edwards' push-back against a free press and more: https://www.myhcdp.com/news/categories/weekend-joe