Did Trump tip the jobs report early? Markets got a hint before 8:30 after his post matched embargoed data

The US president shared figures matching embargoed employment data roughly 12 hours before the December jobs report was officially released.

• Trump shared jobs data chart early, sparking disclosure concerns.
• December payrolls rose by 50,000, below expectations and prior months' figures
• 2025 monthly job growth averaged 49,000, sharply down from 2024's 168,000

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US President Donald Trump posted a chart on social media on Thursday evening containing figures from the December employment report, roughly 12 hours before the data was officially released, raising fresh questions over adherence to long-standing disclosure protocols.

According to the Bloomberg report, the chart, posted on Truth Social, showed that the private sector had added 654,000 jobs “since January,” a figure that matched data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. Washington time on Friday. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg added.

Under established rules, the president and senior economic officials are briefed on the jobs report the day before release but are barred from publicly commenting on the figures until at least 30 minutes after publication, to allow markets and the public to absorb the data.

Post hints at report direction

While Trump’s post did not disclose the precise December payrolls number, market participants said it could have signalled the tone of the report ahead of time. Investors and analysts circulated screenshots of the post after the data was released, noting the unusual timing.

This is not the first time Trump has drawn scrutiny over early remarks on sensitive economic data. During his first term, he tweeted ahead of a May 2018 jobs report that he was “looking forward” to the numbers, which traders interpreted as a sign the data would beat expectations, which it later did.

Jobs growth slows at end of 2025

The December employment report showed a marked slowdown in hiring. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 50,000 in December, below the downwardly revised 56,000 in November and short of the Dow Jones estimate of 73,000.

The unemployment rate edged down to 4.4%, compared with expectations of 4.5%. A broader measure of labour underutilisation, which includes discouraged workers and those working part-time for economic reasons, fell to 8.4%, down 0.3 percentage point from November.

The household survey showed employment rising by 232,000, even as the labour force participation rate slipped to 62.4%, underscoring mixed signals in the labour market.

Revisions deepen slowdown

Revisions lowered prior months’ job gains. November payrolls were revised down by 8,000, while October’s losses were deepened to 173,000 from an earlier estimate of 105,000.

For 2025 as a whole, payroll growth averaged 49,000 jobs a month, a sharp slowdown from the 168,000 monthly average recorded in 2024, according to BLS data.

US stock futures rose following the release of the report, while Treasury yields were largely unchanged.