The last full jobs report of the Biden administration showed a gain of 256,000 jobs during December 2024, about 100,000 more than expected, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, about where it’s held for the past year. Yet, just seconds prior to the report’s release, Heritage Foundation economist and long-time Trump adviser Stephen Moore was trashing the economy on Fox Business, and afterward, a Fox Business correspondent downplayed record job creation under the Biden administration following the huge loss of jobs at the end of the first Trump administration.

Economists highlighted the positive jobs report, which shows the Biden administration ending with a strong labor market

• Washington Post economic columnist Heather Long: “JUST IN: A strong December jobs report. The US economy added 256,000 jobs (well above expectations).” Long concluded, “Bottom line: No recession in site. Hiring did slow, but that's what the Fed wanted.” [Twitter/X, 1/10/25]

• KPMG US chief economist Diane Swonk: “We generated 2.2M jobs in 2024, the slowest pace since 2020, but still above the 1.99M of 2019.” Swonk further noted the jobs report is “well outperforming expectations.” [Twitter/X, 1/10/25]

• Harvard University economist Jason Furman: “Bottom line: The really economy remains very robust. A variety of indicators show the labor market has stabilized.” Furman also noted that “overall jobs and employment are way above pre-COVID projections. Most of that is the unexpected surge of immigration.” [Twitter/X, 1/10/25, 1/10/25]

• RSM US chief economist Joseph Brusuelas: “However, one slices and dices it 2024 represented one of the best years in memory for American workers that saw their wages rise above inflation during the entire year while that 4% unemployment rate is pitch perfect definition of full employment.” Brusuelas elaborated: “Over the past year the economy generated 186,000 jobs per month on average and the unemployment rate averaged 4% during 2024. During the entire year wages increased 0.3% on average per month and were up 4% overall.” [Twitter/X, 1/10/25]

Yet Fox Business was trashing the job market amid the spectacular jobs report

• The Heritage Foundation’s Stephen Moore, just prior to the jobs report release: “I think Trump’s going to need a big pooper-scooper to fix this mess that he’s inheriting.” Moore added: “There’s no question the economy is not in good shape. You know, this message, this narrative from the Biden people that they’re handing off to Trump a healthy economy is absolutely wrong.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 1/10/25]

• Fox Business correspondent Lydia Hu downplayed the positive jobs report and criticized the Biden administration for taking “a victory lap.” Hu suggested the wrong kinds of jobs are being added and dismissed President Joe Biden’s accomplishment of creating more than 16 million jobs during his administration, stating: “We have to point out that most of their jobs were simply restored after they went away during the pandemic. With this report our numbers show the Biden administration created 7.2 million jobs, less than half than what they will likely claim throughout the day.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 1/10/25]

This echoes right-wing media behavior when former President Barack Obama handed off a strong economy to Trump in 2017

When the December 2016 jobs report was released, drawing positive commentary from economists and pundits, Fox Business host Stuart Varney slammed the data on his program and invited several guests to falsely claim that the report was proof of a sputtering and “sick” economy. Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade similarly lamented the report as “not a great picture of the employment situation in the country,” ignoring all its positive indicators.

And in a preview of things likely to come, when the January 2017 jobs report was released a couple of weeks into the Trump administration, Fox gushed over it as “fantastic news,” incorrectly crediting the good news to newly-minted President Trump, even though the jobs data was collected prior to him taking office. The next month, right-wing media established their pattern of coverage by celebrating the February 2017 jobs report, which continued a 77-month streak of job creation that began under Obama, as a major win for Trump.