OAN Staff James Meyers
9:26 AM – Wednesday, June 4, 2025
President Donald Trump is applying more pressure to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates after a Wednesday report showed job hiring in the private sector slowed down last month.
According to payroll processing firm ADP, private employers added 37,000 jobs in May, which fell below expectations of 110,000 by the Dow Jones forecast.
“Unease is the word of the day. Employers are trying to reconcile policy and consumer uncertainty with a run of mostly positive economic data,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. “It can be difficult to make hiring decisions in such an environment.”
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This comes after the 47th president criticized Powell last month, arguing that the Fed Chair is not keeping up with other American allies.
“ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE. He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social soon after the report’s release.
Meanwhile, economists will now wait for the nonfarm payrolls data that is expected to be released on Friday. The report is expected to show a gain of 125,000 jobs and a steady unemployment rate at 4.2%.
“This is the worst ADP payrolls report we’ve had in quite some time,” Jesse Cohen, senior financial analyst at Investing.com, wrote in a post on X.
“The data points to a slowing labor market and raises the chances of multiple rate cuts by the Fed this year.”
The GOP commander-in-chief has repeatedly pushed for lower interest rates since taking back the White House. He has even called for Powell to personally come to the White House in order to take part in a number of related discussions, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Despite the calls, Powell and other central economists have held a positive outlook on the economy, but have also cautioned that there is possible uncertainty due to the president’s tariffs.
“After a strong start to the year, hiring is losing momentum,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a statement.
“Pay growth, however, was little changed in May, holding at robust levels for both job-stayers and job-changers,” she continued.
Still, annual pay increased 4.5% for job-stayers and 7% for job-changers — compared to 2024.
Wednesday’s report also revealed that the goods-producing industries lost 2,000 jobs in May: 5,000 were cut in natural resources and mining positions, in addition to a loss of 3,000 in manufacturing. However, the losses were partially offset by the creation of an additional 6,000 jobs in the construction sector.
Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday that job openings hit almost 7.4 million, which was much higher than expected.
According to CME FedWatch, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates in the 4.25% to 4.5% range at their meeting later in June.
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