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President Donald Trump in a social media post Thursday evening, indirectly revealed data from Friday’s nonfarm payrolls count, an apparent violation of long-standing federal policy on the release of statistics.
In a Truth on social media Around 9 p.m. ET, the president reported that private sector payrolls increased by 654,000 for all of 2025, a total that would have included Friday’s jobs tally for December.
Office of Management and Fiscal Policy prohibited to officials of the executive branch to comment on such posts earlier and effectively prohibits public statements until 30 minutes after posting.
Presidents may be notified of official employment figures before they are released.
A White House official acknowledged, however, that “there was an inadvertent public disclosure of aggregate data that was in part derived from pre-released information. The White House is therefore reviewing protocols regarding the release of economic data.”
The official further chastised the media for “grasping at straws to foment another false controversy” and instead urged a focus on how “President Trump’s policies are laying the foundation for an economic resurgence as GDP and real wage growth continue to accelerate.”
Trump’s message distinguished between private and public employment growth, with the latter down by 181,000 for 2025.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ December jobs report, released by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account, approximately 12 hours before the numbers were released, is seen in this screenshot obtained on January 9, 2026.
@realdonaldtrump | Via Reuters
Friday’s jobs data release then showed that non-agricultural payroll increased by 50,000 for December, all but 2,000 of which came from the private sector. The figures, although slightly lower than official economists’ estimates, eased concerns about a steeper decline in employment. Stock futures trended higher following the data.
Although Trump’s message did not allow traders to calculate the exact payroll figure due to a lack of data on revisions, they could have gleaned a rough estimate of the figure and possibly ruled out a December job loss scenario that would have spooked markets.
Trump once telegraphy a rather positive figure in terms of employment during his first mandate, sparking criticism.
