U.S. Economy Is Teetering

Punchbowl News: “This wasn’t the jobs report that the White House or Wall Street was hoping for, especially as the war in Iran intensifies. Pre-release estimates were for a 50,000 jobs gain, based partly on a strong January jobs report. So this was a bad miss.”

“Economist Heather Long notes that since April 2025, there’s been a net job loss by the U.S. economy, even as overall economic growth remains strong. Manufacturing employment, in particular, continues to fall under Trump, despite a promise that his tariff regime would spur a surge in new U.S. manufacturing jobs. There were another 12,000 job losses in the manufacturing sector last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.”

“More incoming. The other big concern is oil prices, which have spiked to nearly $90 per barrel thanks to the Iran war.”