CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten on Sunday spelled out how President Donald Trump is “very much in the red” when it comes to his handling of jobs.
Enten — just hours after White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett defended a disappointing July jobs report on the network — highlighted how Trump’s net approval rating on jobs has “really taken a tumble” since the start of his second term, sinking from +9 percentage points in January 2025 to -22 points now.
Enten argued that “just how much ground” the president once had on the issue can sometimes get lost. (At this point in his first term, he held a net approval rating of +10 points on jobs.)
“My goodness gracious,” Enten said while breaking down the numbers.
As economists express concerns over the latest jobs report, one that saw employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs last month in sharp contrast from the forecasted gain of 83,000 positions, a little over half of Americans (51%) say the job market is on the “wrong track,” per a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey.
In the same poll, 29% of Americans indicated the job market was on the “right track.”
Those figures have “flipped” since January 2025, per Enten, when 32% of Americans said the job market was on the “wrong track” and 40% said it was on the “right track.”
More Americans are also indicating that it’s a bad time to find a quality job (63%) than those who say it’s a good time to do so (33%), per Gallup.
At the start of Trump’s second term, the same poll found 48% of Americans said it was a good time, and 45% said it was a bad one.
“Indeed, these numbers are absolutely awful,” Enten concluded.