Trump Posted Unpublished Jobs Data Early On Social Media
JustinPresident Donald Trump posted a chart on social media Thursday evening that included figures in the yet-to-be released December employment report.
President Donald Trump posted a chart on social media Thursday evening that included figures in the yet-to-be released December employment report.
The chart, which showed the private sector added 654,000 jobs "since January," matched figures that were not publicly published until 8:30 a.m. in Washington on Friday. It was posted on Truth Social about 12 hours before the data was set to be released.
The White House didn't immediately provide comment.
The president and his economic team are typically briefed on the jobs report the day before the numbers are published. No one from the administration is allowed to comment on the figures until they've been out for 30 minutes to allow the public time to process the policy-neutral statistics before the executive branch weighs in with its interpretation.
Although the post did not disclose the specific payrolls figure for December, it could have hinted to investors the direction of the report. Market watchers were circulating the president's post on social media following the publication of the numbers, noting that he appeared to share data early.
It's not the first time Trump hasn't adhered to protocol. In his first term, he tweeted that he was "looking forward" to seeing the jobs report an hour before it was released, which traders interpreted as a signal that the numbers would be positive. That was in fact the case, as payrolls in May 2018 beat forecasts and the unemployment rate dropped.
