by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
The economy added 162,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department announced Friday morning, tripling the expectations of economists.
Economists had predicted a gain of just 53,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.
YUGE beat on jobs in Aug, not only b/c payrolls jumped 217k, but also b/c the number of folks employed roared higher by 569k and those not in the labor force dipped more than half a million; people flooded back into the labor market and were able to get jobs: pic.twitter.com/awc4ftIjhK
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) September 4, 2026
“Great jobs number just announced, breaking all estimates (except mine!) by double and triple – And you haven’t seen anything yet!” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “EMPLOYERS ADDED 162,000 JOB IN AUGUST.”
The president urged the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates “because the U.S.A. is a much stronger credit than it was just a short time ago!”
“A STRONG COUNTRY MEANS A LOWER INTEREST RATE – IT’S A BETTER CREDIT…Very simple! We should have the LOWEST RATE of any country in the World, like ‘the old days,’” he said.
Trump said high interest rates disadvantage the U.S.
“Without the United States agreeing to allow them their big surpluses, and we could stop that immediately, they would no longer be considered financially ELITE! LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT, which the U.S. Supreme Court, in its ridiculous and very costly Tariff decision, strongly acknowledged ‘the President’ has an absolute right to do,” he said. “IT’S BETTER THAN TARIFFS! The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart – BE PATRIOTS for a change.”
Last Friday, Trump’s Fed Chair appointee, Kevin Warsh, signaled he could raise rates. When asked about this by the Daily Signal, Trump declined to criticize Warsh but renewed the call for lower rates.
“I have a lot of respect for him, and he’ll do what he has to do,” he told the Daily Signal. “I think our interest rates are too high … We should have the lowest interest rates in the world, because if we wanted to, you know, a lot of countries that are paying less interest rate only because of us, because they do business with us.”
NEW: I asked @POTUS about Fed Chair Warsh considering raising rates.
“I have a lot of respect for him, and he’ll do what he has to do,” he told @DailySignal.
“I think our interest rates are too high…We should have the lowest interest rates in the world, because if we wanted… pic.twitter.com/FMKepYuQDQ
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) August 31, 2026
White House spokesman Kush Desai said the latest jobs report reflects “a historic investment boom” in the United States. He predicted “even more job, wage, and economic growth in store for everyday Americans.”
“The private sector has now created over one million jobs under President Trump, whose reindustrialization agenda continues to drive manufacturing and factory construction job growth,” Desai said.
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Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal.
