U.S. President Donald Trump holds an executive order about tariffs increase, flanked by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo
December 03, 2025
ALTERNET
One of the President Donald Trump's top economic advisors is scrambling to blame anything but tariffs after a new jobs report indicated that they might be 'hammering" small business jobs, a move the New Republic dismissed as "only damage control."
“No, no, it’s not tariffs,” Lutnik told CNBC’s Sara Eisen. “Remember, you had the Democratic shutdown, right, and what do you think happens to small business, the people who do business with the U.S. government, they know they’re not getting paid, so they slow down their projects.
“Remember, as you deport people, that’s gonna suppress private job numbers of small businesses," he added. "But they’ll rebalance and they’ll regrow, so I think this is just a near-term event, and you’ll see as the numbers come through over the next couple of months, you’ll see that all pass."
Reacting to Lutnick's claims, a report from the New Republic dismissed them as "damage control" and cited numerous other factors to back up the claim that tariffs are harming the U.S. economy in ways Trump said they would not.
"Domestic manufacturing, as measured by the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing index, fell for the ninth month in a row, showing that the tariffs are hurting an area that Trump boasts they will improve," the piece explained. "And private companies, including wholesale retailer Costco, are suing the government to get a refund of the tariffs they’ve paid.
The report from ADP found that, for the month of November, private sector businesses employing at most 50 people saw job losses of nearly 32,000. This was notably off from the initial prediction that these businesses would add 10,000 new jobs. Small businesses, those that employ at most 50 people, were hit the hardest, losing 120,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses, meanwhile, added 51,000 jobs, and largest businesses added 39,000, all of which was still not enough to create net positive job growth.
Reporting on these new numbers, CNBC host Steve Liesman said that Trump's tariffs may be to blame for some of the pain felt by small businesses.
"That's the fourth negative number in the past six months," Liesman said. "The estimate was for plus 40,000, so the street was off on this one... Small business getting hammered and there is some information that some of this may be coming from being hammered by the tariffs."
During an appearance on CNBC later in the day, Trump's Commerce Secretary denied the theory that tariffs were to blame, instead putting the onus on the administration's preferred target: Democrats.
‘Yikes’: New Jobs Data Further Undermines Trump Fiction of Thriving Economy
“The booming job market exists only in Donald Trump’s demented head,”
“The booming job market exists only in Donald Trump’s demented head,”
said economist Dean Baker.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on December 1, 2025.
(Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Dec 03, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
Economists on Wednesday expressed significant concerns after new data from global payroll processing firm ADP estimated that the US economy lost 32,000 jobs last month.
As reported by CNBC, small businesses bore the brunt of the job losses, as firms with fewer than 50 employees shed a total of 120,000 jobs, more than offsetting the 90,000 in job gains reported by firms with 50 or more employees.
The loss of 32,000 jobs in November marked a major miss for economists’ consensus estimate of 40,000 jobs added on the month, and CNBC noted that the total number of jobs lost according to ADP data “was the biggest drop since March 2023.”
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, noted in a post on X that the job losses recorded by ADP were widespread across the US economy.
“Yikes,” she wrote in reaction to the report. “Most industries were doing layoffs. The only ones still are hiring are hospitality and healthcare.”
Long also said the disparity between small and large businesses in terms of job growth was more evidence that the US is experiencing a “K-shaped” economy in which those at the top of the economic ladder thrive, even as everyone else struggles.
“Larger companies are still hiring,” she explained. “Smaller firms (under 50 workers) are doing the layoffs. It’s been a very tough year for small biz due to tariffs and more selective spending from lower and middle-class consumers.”
Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, observed that ADP hasn’t reported such a big drop in small-business employment since October 2020, when the US economy was suffering through the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, cautioned against reading too much into ADP data, although he added that “in the absence of up to date government payrolls, all other signs point to a further deteriorating labor market.”
Charlie Bilello, chief market strategist at financial planner Creative Planning, argued that the ADP jobs numbers were part of a negative three-month trend in which the US economy lost an estimated 4,000 jobs per month, which he said was “the first three-month decline since the 2020 recession.”
Bilello added that “a year ago, we were adding over 200,000 jobs per month.”
Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm KPMG, argued that the ADP report showed job losses in the US economy were “broad based” and “were accompanied by a cooling of wage gains” for workers who still have jobs or are switching from one job to another.
“Those with a job are clinging on, while those without are left wanting,” she explained.
Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, argued that the ADP report blows up President Donald Trump’s spin about the health of the US economy.
“The booming job market exists only in Donald Trump’s demented head,” he wrote.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on December 1, 2025.
(Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Dec 03, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
Economists on Wednesday expressed significant concerns after new data from global payroll processing firm ADP estimated that the US economy lost 32,000 jobs last month.
As reported by CNBC, small businesses bore the brunt of the job losses, as firms with fewer than 50 employees shed a total of 120,000 jobs, more than offsetting the 90,000 in job gains reported by firms with 50 or more employees.
The loss of 32,000 jobs in November marked a major miss for economists’ consensus estimate of 40,000 jobs added on the month, and CNBC noted that the total number of jobs lost according to ADP data “was the biggest drop since March 2023.”
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, noted in a post on X that the job losses recorded by ADP were widespread across the US economy.
“Yikes,” she wrote in reaction to the report. “Most industries were doing layoffs. The only ones still are hiring are hospitality and healthcare.”
Long also said the disparity between small and large businesses in terms of job growth was more evidence that the US is experiencing a “K-shaped” economy in which those at the top of the economic ladder thrive, even as everyone else struggles.
“Larger companies are still hiring,” she explained. “Smaller firms (under 50 workers) are doing the layoffs. It’s been a very tough year for small biz due to tariffs and more selective spending from lower and middle-class consumers.”
Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, observed that ADP hasn’t reported such a big drop in small-business employment since October 2020, when the US economy was suffering through the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, cautioned against reading too much into ADP data, although he added that “in the absence of up to date government payrolls, all other signs point to a further deteriorating labor market.”
Charlie Bilello, chief market strategist at financial planner Creative Planning, argued that the ADP jobs numbers were part of a negative three-month trend in which the US economy lost an estimated 4,000 jobs per month, which he said was “the first three-month decline since the 2020 recession.”
Bilello added that “a year ago, we were adding over 200,000 jobs per month.”
Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm KPMG, argued that the ADP report showed job losses in the US economy were “broad based” and “were accompanied by a cooling of wage gains” for workers who still have jobs or are switching from one job to another.
“Those with a job are clinging on, while those without are left wanting,” she explained.
Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, argued that the ADP report blows up President Donald Trump’s spin about the health of the US economy.
“The booming job market exists only in Donald Trump’s demented head,” he wrote.
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