‘Rigged economy’: Donald Trump drags manufacturing to its lowest in 6 decades, and people still think he’s Pro-America?

The availability of American manufacturing jobs is at a 60-year low, according to the Center for American Progress, and it has only worsened since President Trump instituted his tariff policies in his second term, casting further doubt on what Trump’s “America First Policies” really mean.

Americans for Tax Fairness shared the Center for American Progress (CAP) data on X and captioned their post,

We’ve LOST 89,000 manufacturing jobs since the administration announced its tariff agenda. That’s like if you closed over 2,800 factories nationwide. The same corporations that already get massive tax breaks pass the cost of tariffs on to us—or just fire us. Rigged economy.”

via Americans for Tax Fairness, X

Trump’s tariff agenda, often referred to in policy discussions as “Liberation Day” tariffs, involved raising import duties on a wide array of goods from key trading partners, including China, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.

The administration has framed these measures as a strategy to “bring jobs and factories back to the United States,” reduce the trade deficit in goods, and strengthen domestic manufacturing.

Supporters say higher duties make imported goods more expensive relative to U.S.‑made products, theoretically boosting demand for domestic output and encouraging the reshoring of production.

The truth about Liberation Day tariffs

Yet independent analyses and economic reporting have cast doubt on those outcomes. The CAP report noted that manufacturing job losses occurred in most months after the tariff announcement and that growth achievements from previous years were eroded, with the U.S. trade deficit in goods reaching a record high despite the new duties.

Other news outlets have pointed to reports that many manufacturers are paying more for inputs as a result of tariffs, contributing to higher production costs rather than employment gains.

In terms of actual labor market demand, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — the federal statistical agency that produces official jobs data — reported that there were about 495,000 manufacturing job openings in January 2026. These figures come from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which tracks employer demand for labor across industries.

That data show that employers continue to seek manufacturing workers even as employment levels have fluctuated.

Trump’s own BLS reports the total number of manufacturing jobs is not at a 60-year numerical low — it is significantly higher than the post-2008 recession depths — the ratio of manufacturing workers to total nonfarm employment hit its lowest point since 1939 in early 2026

Trump and BLS meddling

However, the credibility of BLS data has itself become a point of controversy. In August 2025, President Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following the release of job reports he criticized as inaccurate, a move that alarmed economists and data integrity advocates who saw it as political interference in an independent statistical agency.

Critics argue that such actions could undermine confidence in labor market data that businesses and policymakers rely on. Acting BLS leadership has defended the agency’s methods and rejected claims of falsification.

While Trump and his supporters tout protectionist measures as beneficial for domestic industry, independent research and labor market data indicate a more complex picture in which increased costs, uncertain demand, and job losses have emerged alongside continued labor demand in some sectors.