Trump Adviser Sees Strong Economy as More Americans Lose Jobs

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett insisted that “the economy is really strong” after CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla asked him about a February jobs report that showed unexpected losses and a sharp drop in the workforce, Tommy Christopher reported for Mediaite.

The Employment Situation report showed 92,000 jobs lost and downward revisions of 69,000 more. (Photo: The Economic Club X)

Economists had expected about 50,000 new jobs in the Employment Situation report for the month. Instead, the report showed 92,000 jobs lost and downward revisions of 69,000 more.

The workforce participation figure also shocked CNBC anchor Rick Santelli.

During Friday morning’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Quintanilla told co-host Jim Cramer that the workforce number “unwinds several years’ worth of gains,” prompting Cramer to exclaim, “My kingdom for an asterisk!”

With revisions, the average job growth for the past three months stands at 5,667 jobs, with a total of 17,000 net jobs created.

Quintanilla later asked Hassett whether there were “enough asterisks, in Jim’s words, to make this number make more sense.”

Hassett replied: “I think Jim’s right that there have been so many strong indicators this month that it’s something of a surprise. But there’s some weather, there are strikes on the West Coast, and we also have the birth-death model and changes in the procedure at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”