Washington. The latest unemployment report released by the US Department of Labor Statistics has made it clear that the country’s labor market is slowing down.

Experts in various fields have expressed serious concern over this situation. A total of 73,000 new jobs were added to the U.S. non-agricultural sector in July, far below estimates of 104,000, according to data released on Friday. Accordingly, the unemployment rate has also increased from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent.

The Department of Labour has also revised the data published earlier for the months of May and June, stating that a total of 258,000 jobs have declined. According to the department, the decline is “larger than normal”.

Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said: “A slowdown in job growth and salary growth could lead to a decline in consumption.” In such a situation, investment cannot take its place. At the same time, state and local governments are also being forced to cut spending, which could lead to further weakness in the overall economy. ’

Gary Huffbauer, a senior expert at the Academy of International Economic Policy, said, “Given the current situation, there is no possibility of a concrete improvement in the labor market over the next few months.” ’

Impact of customs policy

Experts say that the current slowdown in employment is also related to the customs policy adopted by the US government. High tariffs imposed by then-President Donald Trump on major trading partners have increased uncertainty in the market.

“Customs policies have an indirect impact on consumer spending capacity,” Hofbauer said. When prices go up, consumption decreases, and it negatively affects job creation. ’

Dean Baker echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Customs reduces the purchasing power of consumers, which has a direct impact on consumption and investment.” ’

“Labour market conditions were not as positive as they had previously been,” said clay Ramsey, a senior researcher at the University of Maryland. It is clear that the labor market has started declining since May. ’

Potential intervention of the central bank

It has been analyzed that the weakness of the labor market may prompt the Rastra Bank (Federal Reserve) to decide to reduce the interest rate. “This situation is likely to force the Rastra Bank to cut interest rates further, which could boost the economy to some extent,” Hafbauer said. ’

Political influences

Soon after the weak data on the labor market became public, President Trump said that the Commissioner of the Department of Labor Statistics, Dr. Erica McAntarfer has been removed from the post. Informing about the decision through social media, he said, “Dr. McAntarfer alleged that the data was manipulated with political motives, although no evidence has been presented.

Hafbauer criticised the move as a “purely political decision”. “His efficiency or qualification was not a matter of doubt,” he said. Ramsey said, “Such a decision can have the opposite effect. McAntarfer will now become the center of the media for labor market information and evaluation, which could pose a challenge to keep the data provided by the government reliable. ’