President Donald Trump: Over 1 Million Private Jobs Since Taking Office

Donald Trump claims that over 1 million private sector jobs have been added in the U.S. since he took office, stating that more Americans are working than ever before.

This statement was made during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, where he also claimed that the poverty rate has reached a historic low, with 1.5 million people lifted out of poverty last year, and that the poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanics are at historic lows, with average household income around $87,000. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later noted that since January 2025, private jobs have exceeded 1 million, while federal employees have dropped to the lowest level since the 1960s, with over 1.3 million native-born individuals entering employment. The White House's interpretation of the August jobs report mentioned the same million threshold, stating that non-farm jobs increased by 162,000 in August, about three times the economists' expectations, marking the second highest single month in his second term; private sector jobs increased by about 127,000, with manufacturing adding 16,000, the strongest month in three years, totaling about 58,000 in manufacturing for the year; construction added 22,000 jobs, with factory construction jobs accumulating nearly 100,000 in the second term. Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling stated that approximately 643,000 jobs have been added this year.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in August was 4.1%, with 2.674 million federal employees, about 336,000 fewer than in January 2025, the lowest since May 1966. Private job openings in August were about 6.348 million. The LinkedIn Workforce Report stated that hiring in August increased by 1.9% month-over-month but was still down 6.5% year-over-year. The White House attributed job growth to pharmaceuticals, defense, data centers, and semiconductor factory construction. Speaker Mike Johnson stated that manufacturing activity expanded for the eighth consecutive month in August.

The employment data is also used for midterm narratives. The White House emphasizes that private sector expansion is occurring alongside federal contraction; external verification agencies noted earlier this year that the non-farm job growth in the first 11 months of the second term was far lower than in the first 11 months of his presidency, with federal layoffs depressing the total. The August report marks the official milestone of "over a million".

Jobs are shifting from federal positions to private sector and factory construction. The buyer is the White House, which wants to frame employment as an achievement, while the seller is the statistical agency, which still revises its surveys. The event is driven by the UN speech and the August jobs report. Beneficiaries include campaign teams that can cite the million figure and the manufacturing and construction sectors that are still hiring; those under pressure include laid-off federal employees, as well as a weaker year-over-year hiring trend and a rising long-term interest rate financing environment. The numerical measure is the net increase in private jobs, not the total after accounting for government layoffs.

Source: Public Information