President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted his administration’s efforts to curb the size of the federal government’s workforce while expanding private sector payrolls.
“Since January, 100,000 bureaucrats have left the federal payroll,” Trump said in remarks at the America Business Forum. “Government spending is down 2.5% this quarter compared to one year ago. Think of that.”
“And in stark contrast to last administration, 100% of all new jobs created in America under my administration have been created in the private sector, 100% of the jobs have come from the private sector,” Trump said. “Otherwise, you don’t have a country.”
The president added that “I mean, I love government workers, but if you have all government workers, you don’t have a country, do you?”
PRIVATE SECTOR ADDED BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED 42,000 JOBS IN OCTOBER, ADP SAYS
Since February, the first full month of Trump’s second term, the U.S. economy added about 404,000 private sector jobs through August, according to the most recent Labor Department data.
The ongoing government shutdown delayed the September jobs report, and will also postpone the October jobs report scheduled for release on Friday.
FED’S POWELL POINTS TO PERSISTENT LABOR MARKET WEAKNESS AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DELAYS OFFICIAL REPORTS
Labor Department data showing the total number of federal employees shows that the government’s workforce has declined from 3.002 million in February to 2.918 million in August.
That leaves the federal workforce down at least 84,000 jobs since Trump’s second term began.
The delayed September and October jobs reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics could show steeper declines in the federal workforce when they’re eventually released.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative offered deferred buyouts to federal workers. Those allowed workers to effectively stop working for the government receive pay until the end of September.
The BLS noted in the jobs reports released over the spring and summer prior to the onset of the government shutdown that workers on paid leave or receiving severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.
