Trump brushes off early posting of confidential jobs figures

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WASHINGTON (AP) — In an unusual move, President Donald Trump posted a graph Thursday night on social media that reflected jobs data from December that weren’t supposed to be released until the Labor Department issued the monthly employment report Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. eastern.

The monthly jobs numbers are a closely guarded secret because they can cause sharp swings in financial markets when released. Friday's report, in fact, contributed to a rise in stock prices and a slight decline in bond yields. It showed a small drop in the unemployment rate, to 4.4%, and a modest job gain, reassuring economists that hiring hasn't fallen off a cliff after the economy shed jobs in August and October.

Early copies of the report are kept under lock and key at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the data. White House economic officials receive an advance copy each month on Thursday afternoon and sign agreements to keep the numbers confidential, though they also write up a summary for the president. Trump posted a graphic from the summary Thursday night.

“I don’t know if they posted them,” Trump told reporters Friday afternoon. “They gave me some numbers. When people give me things, I post them.”

Erica Groshen, a former BLS commissioner, said that early disclosures can technically be punished by fines and even jail time, though previous breaches typically have been met with a slap on the wrist.

Trump posted a graphic Thursday night that showed businesses had added 654,000 positions since January, while government agencies — at the federal, state, and local levels — had cut 181,000 jobs.

Those data reflected hiring in December as well as revisions to previous months that weren't supposed to be revealed until Friday morning.

Trump also said “the numbers were amazing,” though overall job gains last year were just 584,000, the smallest annual increase outside of a recession since 2003. In 2024, just over 2 million jobs were added.