U.S. job market weakens

Summary

"Here's the Scoop" Podcast Summary Episode: U.S. Job Market Weakens | Release Date: August 1, 2025

1. U.S. Job Market Shows Signs of Slowing

The episode opens with Morgan Chesky introducing the primary concern of the week: a surprising dip in the U.S. job market. A new report released on July indicated that only 73,000 jobs were added, falling short of the anticipated 100,000. The situation becomes more alarming as backdated data reveals significant revisions for previous months.

Notable Quote:

"The job counts for June and May were revised down by more than 100,000 each. In May, it turns out we only added 19,000 jobs. In June, we only added 14,000 jobs."
— Mike Calia, 01:48

2. Market Turmoil Amid Tariff Announcements and Job Report

Following the jobs report, the stock market experienced a sharp decline, with the Dow dropping over 600 points. This downturn was attributed to President Trump's unexpected announcement of new tariffs and the extension of the tariff implementation deadline to August 7th.

Notable Quote:

"The tariffs rates are set to take our target rate to 15%, a level we haven't seen since the 30s."
— Mike Calia, 05:06

3. Insights from NBC News Managing Editor, Mike Calia

Mike Calia delves deeper into the factors contributing to the weakened job numbers. He highlights significant revisions in job data for May and June, indicating underlying issues within the labor market. Calia also discusses the impact of declining foreign-born workers and the stagnation in the manufacturing sector, partly due to President Trump's immigration policies and tariff strategies aimed at boosting domestic job creation.

Notable Quotes:

• On job data revisions:

  "It revealed what some economists had been pointing at, some underlying cracks in the labor market."
  — Mike Calia, 01:48

• On potential stagflation:

  "We're starting to walk down that road [stagflation]."
  — Mike Calia, 03:42

Calia also addresses the Federal Reserve's potential response, noting that while a rate cut is possible due to the poor job numbers, rising inflation complicates the economic outlook.

4. President Trump's Intervention in Labor Statistics

In a surprising turn, President Trump directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency responsible for the jobs reports. This move follows the release of the disappointing job numbers and reflects the administration's stance on defending its economic policies.

Notable Quote:

"Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pretty much said, this is Trump's economy now. And that means the President will have to defend all of his policies and not blame Joe Biden."
— Mike Calia, 06:45

5. Developments in the Jeffrey Epstein Saga

Shifting focus, the podcast covers significant updates in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator, has been moved to a federal prison in Texas, serving a 20-year sentence for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors. Additionally, the family of Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers, has publicly opposed any potential pardon for Maxwell, emphasizing Giuffre's humanity and condemning the President's characterization of her fate.

Notable Quote:

"She's a person. She's a mom, she's a sister. And she was recruited by Maxwell. She wasn't stolen. She was recruited."
— Mike Calia, 09:51

6. U.S. Envoy Visits Gaza Amid Humanitarian Crisis

The podcast highlights a rare visit by U.S. officials to Gaza amidst a severe hunger crisis. U.S. Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Israel Ambassador, Mike Huckabee, toured an aid distribution site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Their visit aimed to assess the situation on the ground and develop strategies to improve food and aid delivery to those in need.

Notable Quote:

"The purpose of the visit was to level set the facts on the ground and to help craft a plan that could better deliver food and aid to Gazans."
— Morgan Chesky, 10:06

7. Unique Sports Event: MLB Meets NASCAR at Bristol Motor Speedway

Concluding the episode on a lighter note, Morgan Chesky introduces an unprecedented sporting event where Major League Baseball teams, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, face off at the Bristol Motor Speedway. In just over 30 days, organizers constructed a baseball field on the racetrack, involving the transport of over 18,000 tons of gravel. This "Speedway Classic" has already sold over 85,000 tickets, promising a record-breaking attendance and a novel fusion of sports cultures.

Notable Quotes:

"So you have a situation where the markets want the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark rate."
— Mike Calia, 05:20

"If you build it, they really will come."
— Morgan Chesky, 11:46

Conclusion

The episode of "Here's the Scoop" offers a comprehensive overview of pressing economic issues, significant legal developments, and unique cultural events. With expert insights from Mike Calia and engaging discussions, listeners gain a clear understanding of the current challenges facing the U.S. job market, the ramifications of tariff policies, and notable updates in high-profile legal cases. Additionally, the episode provides a glimpse into humanitarian efforts in Gaza and showcases an innovative merger of sports, ensuring a well-rounded and informative experience for the audience.

Transcript

[Dahlia Lithwick]

At this very moment, we are living through a series of cascading constitutional crises, rocketing up to the Supreme Court and shaking the foundations of American democracy. This is not a game of chicken where we back down from the Constitution. Like, that's not how this works. I'm Dahlia Lithwick, host of Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the Supreme Court. I've been writing about SCOTUS and the law for more than 20 years. And each week on Amicus, we draw on that deep experience to navigate these incredibly unstable, uncertain times. Search Amicus. That's Amicus to listen.

[Morgan Chesky]

Hey, friends. Happy Friday and welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Morgan Chesky. The week may be over, but the news isn't exactly slowing down. The US Envoy to the Middle east is on the ground in Gaza. We have new developments in the Epstein saga, but we gotta start with our top story, our nation's jobs. A new report out this morning showed a bit of a surprise. Weaker numbers than expected, with just 73,000 jobs added in July. Then there's the stock market. It tanked this morning with the Dow dropping more than 600 points amid the president announcing new tariffs and extending the original deadline for deals. Remember, it was supposed to be today. Now it's apparently kicking in August 7th. So what's going on here? Well, we gotta page Mike Calia, NBC News managing editor for business and the economy, to help us understand. Mike, two pot appearances in a week here. Nicely done. Thanks for joining us.

[Mike Calia]

Thanks, Morgan. It just happens to be one of the most pivotal weeks in the economy in years.

[Morgan Chesky]

So I do want to start with the new jobs report. What's in it and what struck you?

[Mike Calia]

So I saw the top line number for July, 73,000 jobs added. That came in below the 100,000 estimated. So I wasn't too shocked by that. It's when I opened it up and I went down to the revision section and saw, and this totally shocked me. Took my breath away. The job counts for June and May were revised down by more than 100,000 each. So in May, it turns out we only added 19,000 jobs. In June, we only added 14,000 jobs. So that raised a lot of questions about, like, the quality of the data. Will this 73,000 jobs total for July hold up? And it revealed what some economists had been pointing at, some underlying cracks in the labor market.

[Morgan Chesky]

So with these deep revisions you noticed, Mike, do we have a sense for why job growth is actually slowing down?

[Mike Calia]

Revisions happen a lot. I Just want to make that clear. They also tend to go up and down. Not just down. What's new here is that how big and fast it came over these past two months. And one of the drivers is frankly, the levels of foreign born workers have declined. And a lot of that you can point at President Trump's immigration crackdown, but also we're not seeing the manufacturing revival that the President wants us to see. His advisors say it will take time. You know, we're trying to reassure these jobs. We're using these tariffs to try to compel companies to build more here in America and create more jobs.

[Morgan Chesky]

From job numbers to inflation numbers, we've seen inflation tick up in recent months.

[Mike Calia]

Right.

[Morgan Chesky]

Break it down for what happens when job growth slows and inflation rises. You've seen this before.

[Mike Calia]

Yeah, I'm going to play one of the oldies here. Stagflation, stagflation. We're not there yet. But today's job report, paired with the tariffs and the recent inflation data that has shown an increase in prices, we're starting to walk down that road. And what that means is when you have a stagnant job market where there's not that much growth or there are even jobs being lost, that's part of it. Economic growth itself is, I don't want to say depressed, but stagnant. Now tariffs are, they're making businesses uncertain about what they want to buy, about what they want to spend. And that has an impact on the labor market, too. If you're paying more for products, you don't have as much money to pay employees.

[Morgan Chesky]

Right. Correct me if I'm wrong, but today was supposed to be the deadline for tariffs, right?

[Mike Calia]

Right. So what happened was last night President Trump dropped a couple of executive orders that formalized the framework agreements he reached with a handful of countries in the past few weeks and also formalized tariff rates on countries that he didn't even negotiate with. So a couple hours ahead of the deadline, he set his new tariff policy. But there's a caveat, of course. While these tariff rates are set to take our target rate to 15%, a level we haven't seen since the 30s.

[Morgan Chesky]

Whoa.

[Mike Calia]

There is still a week to go before they're implemented.

[Morgan Chesky]

So we see the market drop pretty significantly this morning. We've known for a while that this tariff date, this deadline was coming. So why the big reaction now?

[Mike Calia]

Well, the big reaction isn't just because of the tariffs, but let me start with the tariffs. After those dramatic declines in April, markets shot right back up again. In fact, they just recently set new records, like record after record after record. So today, the tariff picture probably came in a little bit more severe than they thought. They were really hoping for those 10 to 15% baseline tariffs. But a number of major trading partners are getting hit with more than that. 20, 25, 30%. So there's that. The jobs number is what really kicked things into motion with the markets this morning. Because now you have a situation where the markets want the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark rate. That frees up money. It makes it easier to move money around. Markets love that. But while the chances of a Fed rate cut went up this morning because the jobs number was so bad, there's still the inflation to deal with. So markets are just trying to figure out what's going on. And the impulse right now is to sell.

[Morgan Chesky]

I mean, between the jobs numbers and then the inflation, plus the shifting deadlines on tariffs, for everyone listening to this, where do you put the US Report card right now?

[Mike Calia]

Do you remember in school sometimes you would get an incomplete? Yeah, that's the grade I would give.

[Morgan Chesky]

Ouch.

[Mike Calia]

And that's not a cop out. That is echoing what the Federal Reserve is saying and what a lot of economists are saying. It's like we simply don't know yet. But I should note, though, that amid all of this, the Trump administration, they're happy with what they're seeing. Or at least that's the message this week. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pretty much said, this is Trump's economy now. And that means the President will have to defend all of his policies and not blame Joe Biden.

[Morgan Chesky]

Mike Calia, always a pleasure. Thanks for breaking it down.

[Mike Calia]

Thanks, Morgan. Love being on.

[Morgan Chesky]

And a quick note here. After our interview, President Trump said he directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the very person who oversees those jobs reports. Okay, time now for a quick break. Stick around.

[Unknown]

Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers. And sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.

[Morgan Chesky]

I need a coffee.

[Unknown]

And you need Lifelock because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed. Or your money back. Save up to 40% your first [e-mail] specialoffer terms apply.

[Dahlia Lithwick]

This Supreme Court term isn't business as usual. It's a full blown battle over democracy. Justices are shattering precedent, grabbing power and even turning on their own. It's messy, it's high stakes and it's already reshaping how this country works. And our podcast, Strict Scrutiny breaks it all down legally, clearly, and with just the right amount of side eye. New episodes drop every Monday. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

[Morgan Chesky]

And welcome back to here's the Scoop. All right. Time now for some headlines in the latest chapter of the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co conspirator and confidant, has now been moved from a facility in Florida to a federal prison in Texas. That's all. According to prison officials, Maxwell is serving a 20 year prison sentence for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex. Now, a recent meeting between Maxwell and officials from the U.S. justice Department is prompting some pushback. The family of Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, is urging President Trump not to pardon Maxwell. They also say that Giuffre wanted the so called files on Epstein, a convicted sex offender, to be released. Giuffre, if you'll remember, died by suicide earlier this year and her name came up this week when President Trump said that Epstein stole her from his Mar a Lago club. Giuffre's family joined Hallie Jackson now last night and her brother said the family was shocked that the president used the word stolen to describe her. She's not an object.

[Mike Calia]

She's a person. She's a mom, she's a sister. And she was recruited by Maxwell. She wasn't stolen. She was recruited.

[Morgan Chesky]

A senior administration official tells NBC News no leniency is being given or discussed in regards to Maxwell. And the White House also said the president was referring to Giuffre in response to a question from a reporter about her and that he kicked Epstein out of his club for, quote, being a creep. U.S. officials made an extremely rare visit to Gaza today amid the enclave's spiraling hunger crisis. US Envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff and Israel Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited an aid distribution site that's run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. That's a group backed by both the US And Israel. Witkoff wrote on social media that the purpose of the visit was to level set the facts on the ground and to help craft a plan that could better deliver food and aid to Gazans. Finally this Friday, a question for you. What do you get when you mix NASCAR with Major League Baseball? While you're trying to imagine that we're actually going to find out tomorrow when the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds face off at Tennessee's Bristol Motor Speedway. Organizers built a field on the racetrack in just over 30 days time. And get this, they trucked in more than 18,000 tons of gravel to make it happen.

[Mike Calia]

So you think about just the ballpark. Yep, you gotta think about just the field is a big part of it. Batting tunnels, dugouts, backstop net, batter's eye, bullpens, foul poles, none of this is here, Right. So all that has to be brought in and built on site. So those are big steps.

[Morgan Chesky]

So that's Murray Cook, who consults the MLB on fields and ballparks. More than 85,000 tickets have already been sold for tomorrow's Speedway Classic, which will break the league's previous attendance record, set all the way back in 1954 when the new York Yankees visited Cleveland. So the stage is all set for a little Talladega Nights little Field of Dreams, proving that if you build it, they really will come. Okay, that's going to do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. Our show is produced by Amanda Llewellyn and associate producer Kathleen Rocco. Katie Lau is our audio engineer. Our supervising producer is Katie Rimchen. Anne Marie Fertoldi is our executive producer. Our head of audio production is Bryson Barnes. Alexa Danner is our head of audio. Shalini Sharma is the senior executive producer. And Katherine Kim is the executive vice president of editorial. Have a great weekend, friends. We'll be back on Monday with a brand new episode. For NBC News, I'm Morgan Chesky.

[Unknown]

Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers. And sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.

[Morgan Chesky]

I need a coffee.

[Unknown]

And you need Lifelock. Because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first [e-mail] special offer terms apply.