America’s weakening job market is hitting some of Donald Trump’s key constituencies the hardest, according to data shared by “Morning Joe” economic analyst Steve Rattner. The former Treasury Department official used charts to explain how the weakening job market is becoming another source of discontent for Americans unhappy with the state of the economy under the Trump administration, including many of the president’s supporters.
Rattner said that while the conversation around Americans’ economic struggles has focused “mostly on affordability and inflation, and the polls relating to it,” it was also important to talk about employment “because the news there, while not nearly as bad as on inflation affordability, is not great.”
According to Rattner, in 2024, the last year of Joe Biden’s presidency, the economy created an average of about 122,000 jobs a month, which he called “a decent number” because it was “enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising” and “provide jobs for most people who want them.”
However, that average has collapsed under Trump, sinking to 26,000 jobs a month.
The “Morning Joe” economic analyst said the decline has hit one group particularly hard: blue-collar male workers, a constituency that was key in helping Trump regain the White House.
Recommended
Citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Rattner showed that since Trump took office, the U.S. has added 559,000 net jobs for women, but lost 155,000 jobs for men.
“Part of this relates to the fact of which professions women are more prevalent in than others,” he said. “Women occupy 78% of the healthcare jobs. Healthcare has been the single-biggest source of job creation in the economy over the last year or two.”
However, when it comes to men, who make up much of the workforce in blue-collar fields such as manufacturing, transportation, mining, oil and gas, Rattner said “the number of jobs has actually been declining.”
The former Treasury official urged the president to take notice of these figures since “that is the base of his support.”
You can watch Rattner’s full analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”