Trump revealed jobs data early
President Donald Trump made headlines on Thursday evening with a social media post that indirectly revealed data from Friday’s nonfarm payrolls count, a move that raised eyebrows due to its potential violation of federal policy on statistical releases.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump hinted that private sector payrolls had expanded by 654,000 for the full year of 2025, a figure that included the upcoming December jobs count. This information was meant to be confidential until its official release, as per the Office of Management and Budget policy which prohibits executive branch officials from commenting on such data prior to its public announcement.
A White House official admitted that there was an unintentional disclosure of aggregate data that was derived from pre-released information, prompting a review of protocols regarding economic data releases. Despite this breach, the official emphasized the positive impact of President Trump’s policies on the economy, highlighting GDP and real wage growth acceleration.
The post by Trump also highlighted the disparity between private sector job growth and government job losses in 2025. This revelation came just hours before the official release of the December jobs report, which ultimately showed an increase of 50,000 nonfarm payrolls, with the majority coming from the private sector.
Although the figures were slightly lower than anticipated by economists, they alleviated concerns of a significant drop in employment. Stock futures reacted positively to the data, trending higher following the release. While Trump’s post did not provide enough information for traders to accurately predict the exact payrolls figure, it did offer a rough estimation that helped rule out a scenario of job losses in December that could have negatively impacted the markets.
This incident is not the first time that Trump has hinted at positive job figures ahead of their official release, a move that has previously sparked criticism. The need for adherence to established protocols regarding the release of sensitive economic data remains crucial to maintain market integrity and prevent undue influence on trading activities.
