The Labor Department reported on Friday morning that the United States added 162,000 jobs in August — more than expected, particularly given how few jobs the country has added in recent months.

But there is a larger caveat that should be widely understood: monthly jobs reports are now barely worth the paper they're printed on, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics has little experience dealing with a labor market suddenly depleted by Trump's mass deportations and the nearly as sudden retirement of the baby boomer generation. Much of what the BLS is currently attempting to measure relies, in effect, on guesswork. It is worth noting that the BLS itself acknowledges such limits: initial monthly estimates are regularly revised in later benchmark updates, and the survey's birth-death model — which adjusts for new firms opening and closing — becomes less reliable when the composition of the workforce is shifting unusually fast.

Even so, there are three real reasons for concern.

1. Wages. Prices continue to rise faster than wages, which means most Americans are getting poorer. Average hourly earnings rose by just 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, for the month, bringing the year-over-year increase in hourly earnings to 3.1 percent. Prices, however, have risen 3.4 percent over the year. The result: most hourly earners are losing ground. In other words, real wages — pay adjusted for inflation — are falling, which is the measure economists use to gauge whether living standards are rising or eroding.

Creating a large number of low-wage jobs is easy. It requires only that employers hold down wages while raising prices — a straightforward way for them to increase profits. What Americans actually need are jobs that pay more: at least enough to cover rent or a mortgage, put food on the table and gas in the car, and care for children or elderly parents. The affordability crisis that Trump dismisses is real, and Republicans will pay a hefty price at the polls for ignoring it.

2. Job stagnation. While employers are not firing many workers, they are also not hiring. A low-hire, low-fire labor market does not create opportunities for advancement, and it is difficult for young people to break into. Economists sometimes call this "labor market churning" — the continuous reshuffling of workers between jobs that historically drives wage growth — and when churning slows, workers tend to stay put in lower-paying roles. A stagnant labor market is better than one that is shedding jobs — but not much better.

3. Trump. The president is interfering in the jobs market and the broader economy in ways that will make things worse. Beyond waging a costly war in Iran and imposing costly tariffs around the world — both of which are driving up prices — he is also issuing threats that make little economic sense.

Responding to the jobs number, Trump threatened that if the Federal Reserve did not lower interest rates in the wake of a new spike in the U.S. trade deficit, he would impose embargoes on unfavored countries: "LOWER THE RATE OR I'LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT."

The political logic is plain: Trump would like the Fed to lower rates to give the economy a boost just before the midterms. But lowering rates would surely open the gates to further price increases. In fact, Friday's jobs report increased the odds of a rate hike, because it removed the major objection to one — that it would stifle employment growth. The threat also cuts against a decades-old norm: the Fed is structured as an independent central bank precisely so that interest-rate decisions are insulated from electoral pressure, and sustained political pressure on the institution has historically unsettled financial markets.

The comment also raises a larger question about Trump's judgment. The very notion of ending trade with every country from which the United States buys more than it sells — a very large portion of the world — is absurd. Anyone with a fifth-grade education understands why countries trade with one another, and that a trade deficit is never in itself grounds for halting trade.

So who is advising Trump on the economy? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is proving, in this assessment, that he does not understand the economy, and there appears to be no one else around the Oval Office who does.

The biggest problem facing the U.S. economy right now is Trump.

*Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former U.S. secretary of labor. His writings can be found at