Updated @ 6:13 PM EDT on August 1, 2025
Friday saw a dramatic decline in stock markets as President Trump announced harsh tariffs on a number of nations and U.S. unemployment increased.
Concerns regarding the potential effects of Trump’s most recent tariffs on imports on the US and international economies have been rekindled since they were announced late Thursday.
A lower-than-expected jobs data released Friday morning heightened investor concerns about the repercussions: Only 73,000 jobs were produced by employers in July, which was less than the 100,000 or so positions that experts had predicted. The jobless rate increased marginally to 4.2%.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced declines of over 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 2% in the meanwhile.
A busy week of economic data
A busy week of economic news concludes with the dismal jobs report and the most recent tariff announcement. The Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged has been analyzed by investors. Additionally, they have been keeping an eye on the earnings reports of the biggest American corporations, which have been informing investors about the impact of tariffs on their profitability.
Wall Street’s optimism this summer abruptly reversed with Friday’s broad sell-off. When Trump first announced his tariffs in April, the markets were in a tailspin. Later, he began to pause and lower some of those tax rates.
Global investors have mostly ignored his revised ideas ever then. But on Friday, their concerns resurfaced, heightened by fresh data showing that these tariffs are having an impact on the labor market.
Calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September are expected to rise as a result of the jobs slowdown. Fearing that increased tariffs might further push prices higher, the central bank held rates constant earlier this week.
“The labor market’s cracks have widened substantially and add further pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates,” Kathy Bostjancic, the Nationwide Chief Economist, said before the weekend.
Copyright 2025 NPR
