Freshly issued data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveal a huge inconsistency in employment generation claims under ex-President Joe Biden. Contrary to boasts of almost 400,000 new jobs created within the third quarter of 2023, thorough numbers show that there was not such a boom—but rather job losses in the private sector. Economist E.J. Antoni cautions this is no accident but one of a disturbing trend of inflated numbers that deceived Americans regarding the health of the economy. The updated figures confirm what millions of voters intuitively knew—and why they elected President Donald Trump in a record landslide last fall.
Key Details:
BLS reported 399,000 new jobs created between July and September of 2023; revised figures indicate a net loss of 1,000 private-sector jobs.
Between March and June of 2023, the BLS had also exaggerated job growth by over half a million jobs.
Annual benchmark revision indicated a 598,000 nonfarm payroll overestimation from March 2023 through March 2024.
Diving Deeper:
E.J. Antoni, Ph.D., a research fellow in regional economics, was critical of the Biden administration for habitually projecting “overly optimistic estimates” of employment growth that were subsequently revised downward. “Each month, the government bean-counters in the administration of previous-president Biden released overly optimistic estimates. only to have those figures regularly—and quietly—revised downward later,” Antoni posted in an op-ed for Townhall.
These updates are no trivial thing. While the BLS’ monthly employment figures, released, are derived from surveys of fewer than 200,000 firms, the more precise Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data draws on more than 12 million firms. That detailed dataset for Q3 2023 goes straight against the administration’s script. Where the Biden administration celebrated 399,000 new jobs, the BED data reported a net loss of 1,000 private-sector jobs.
And the differences didn’t end there. The benchmark revisions for the year, published earlier this year, revealed a massive overestimation of job creation—598,000 fewer jobs created than initially reported between March 2023 and March 2024. Even earlier, from March to June 2023, monthly reports reported 398,000 new jobs. Reality? A net loss of 163,000 private-sector jobs, based on BED data.
Antoni cautioned, “Rather than gaining nearly 800,000 jobs in mid-last year, the economy probably lost more than 160,000 of them.” He anticipates the next benchmark revision will contain even more downward revisions to the Biden-era job numbers.
The consequences are immense. Although the Biden administration attempted to market the population on the notion of a “strongest economy in history,” working-class Americans felt otherwise. “The economic suffering of families was disregarded while deceptive (and frequently inaccurate) figures were showcased on the news to make Americans not trust their lying eyes or empty wallets,” Antoni noted.
Ultimately, Americans were not fooled. As Antoni said, “That’s why they gave President Donald Trump an overwhelming victory last November, as he captured not only the electoral college, including every swing state, but the popular vote as well.”
From record credit card debt to record inflation, the fantasy of a booming economy couldn’t last. Antoni made sure to point out that “Trump was elected to repair our finances, which were far worse than Biden’s cronies would ever acknowledge.”
These revelations highlight the widespread distrust voters had for the Biden administration’s economic messaging—and verify that the Trump resurgence wasn’t political, but a direct reaction to a collapsing and fabricated economic narrative.