US adds just 73,000 jobs in July amid pressure from Trump’s trade war
The US economy added 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than expected, amid ongoing concerns with Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted the July jobs report would show a drop in added jobs to about 109,000.The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in June.
The Bureau of Labor also slashed the number of jobs added in recent months.May’s jobs figure was revised down by 125,000, from 144,000 to 19,000, and June was revised down by 133,000, from 147,000 to 14,000 – a combined 258,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.Hours after the data was released, Trump announced that he was firing the federal government official in charge of labor statistics, claiming, without evidence, that Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of labor statistics, had “faked” employment figures ahead of last year’s election.Healthcare and social assistance added 73,300 jobs over the month but growth was dragged down by more cuts to federal workers.Twelve thousand federal jobs were lost in July and federal employment is down by 84,000 since reaching a peak in January.
“There was little to celebrate in the July Employment Report,” Thomas Ryan, North America economist for Capital Economics, wrote in a note to investors.He noted that the three-month average employment gain had now fallen to “a troublingly low 35,000 – a figure that is difficult to interpret as anything other than a sign of hiring stalling, even as population growth slows.”Shortly before the latest official jobs data was published, two Federal Reserve policymakers who broke ranks with its other officials on interest rates earlier this week released statements explaining their respective decisions.The labor market “has become less dynamic and shows increasing signs of fragility”, said Michelle W Bowman, Fed vice-chair for supervision and a Trump appointee.Putting off a rate cut “could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth”, she added.
Christopher Waller, another Trump appointee, said waiting before cutting rates was “overly cautious”, adding: “I see no reason that we should hold the policy rate at its current level and risk a sudden decline in the labor market.”Trump, who has lambasted the Fed for months after it repeatedly opted to hold rates steady, welcomed the pair’s official interventions – and called on the central bank’s board to “assume control” of policy if Jerome Powell, the central bank’s chair, refuses to cut rates.The jobs report comes in a week packed with economic news.On Wednesday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that gross domestic product, a broad measure of the US’s economic health, grew at 3% in the last three months, up from a 0.5% decline in the first quarter.
The first quarter fall and second quarter bounceback were driven by Trump’s tariff policies as businesses stocked up on imports ahead of the levies at the start of the year – which cut growth – and cut back on imports in the second – which boosted growth.Taken together, the US economy grew at a sluggish 1.2% in the first six months of the year, down from the 2.5% average pace in 2024.Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced it would not cut interest rates.
The Fed is under intense pressure from Trump to cut rates but its chair said the central bank was still waiting to see what impact Trump’s tariffs will have on prices,“Higher tariffs have begun to show through more clearly to prices of some goods, but their overall effects on economic activity and inflation remain to be seen,” Powell said,
Yorkshire and Glamorgan wins shake up tables: county cricket – as it happened
Wins for Glamorgan at the top end of Division Two, and Yorkshire at the bottom end of Division One, spruces things up nicely as the County Championship slips into the wings for August.Glamorgan’s first Championship victory at Old Trafford since 1993 left them sitting pretty in the second promotion spot behind Leicestershire. Rain had wiped out most of the morning’s cricket but the visiting bowlers stuck to their task against Lancashire, Asitha Fernando producing a juicy inswinging yorker to get rid of Tom Bailey and Ben Kellaway persuading Chris Green, the saviour of Cheltenham, to top-edge a sweep. Glamorgan cemented their victory when Jimmy Anderson was bowled by Mason Crane – who hopped on the team coach with nine for 126 in the match.A Scarborough, a 22-point hoopla lifted Yorkshire clear of the immediate relegation zone
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Itoje leads Lions on history chase with echoes of former Sydney glories in air
Australia will have other ideas but Andy Farrell’s team are intent on sealing the clean sweep with a triumph that would stand the test of timeAs the 2025 British & Irish Lions prepare for their last hurrah there are distant echoes of former glories in the damp Sydney air. A highly respected English lock forward leading out a history-chasing team in the same stadium which staged the 2003 Rugby World Cup final? It is not the worst of precedents for Maro Itoje as he and his modern-day Lions await their third and final date with destiny.Itoje and his squad would also dearly love to rekindle memories of another significant contest in this city. The decisive concluding Test of the 2013 Lions series was a classic example of a touring side saving its best until last, with a tiring Wallaby side eventually losing 41-16 after a certain assistant coach called Andy Farrell had urged the players to take their hosts to “the hurt arena”.This time around, among other things, Farrell has been invoking the never-say-die ethos of the Irish boxer Katie Taylor, who was asked to record a few motivational words for the Lions
England squander chance to take control as tetchy final Test heads for close finish
Day two at the Oval was played in fast forward and when England are batting this tends to mean one of two things: either the scoreboard spinning like wheels on a fruit machine and pigeons flying to all parts, or the regular clank of spikes up and down the dressing room stairs.There was a fair bit of both, as it happened, plus tempers once again fraying, as the crowd witnessed a bun fight unfold out in the middle. But while India were initially skittled for 224 by the completion of Gus Atkinson’s fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, England then folded to 247 all out and an opportunity to take full control had gone begging.The injury Chris Woakes sustained on day one not only ruined his Ashes but it also left England a bowler down in this series finale. As well as needing to give the remainder of the attack time off their feet, this meant securing a decent lead
England v India: fifth men’s cricket Test, day two – as it happened
Ali Martin’s reportThe end of a pretty remarkable day at The Oval. Only 75 overs were bowled, but in that time we saw 342 runs, 16 wickets and thousands of Thorpey headbands.India, who looked a beaten team during a bruising the morning session, showed extraordinary resilience to fight back and then edge ahead in the game. They were inspired by Mohammed Siraj, who took out England’s entire middle order across two superb spells.England need something similar from Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue or Jamie Overton tomorrow morning
Graham Thorpe remembered by England amid the joy and sorrow of fifth Test | Simon Burnton
Friday morning at the Oval, and the ground reverberates to a unique but not unfamiliar sound, the baritone rumble of thousands of pained groans. It was prompted by replays on the ground’s big screens of a particular kind of delivery with a very specific outcome, on this occasion bowled by Akash Deep. The ball flicked off the inside of Ben Duckett’s thigh before crashing remorselessly into, well, the next part of his anatomy that it reached, and with agonising results.The game was paused for several minutes while the pain subsided and the opener regained his composure (the blow certainly didn’t make him at all cautious, and by the end of that one over Duckett had survived a review for lbw, skipped down the track and missed completely with a wild swing, seen a leading edge drop short of gully and reverse-scooped for six).On Thursday evening a very different sound had been heard, Chris Woakes’ cries of pain after he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder having flicked a ball back from the boundary edge, close to the press box at the Vauxhall End
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