Washington — U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labor market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

The Labor Department said Friday that hiring decelerated from 79,000 in July. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, also worse than expected and the highest level since 2021, the Labor Department reported Friday.

When the department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.

Talking to reporters Thursday night at a dinner with wealthy tech executives, Trump had seemed to shrug off whatever hiring numbers would come out Friday. “The real numbers that I’m talking about

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