In the article, Steve Kopack, the writer for this NBC news story, finds that 32,000 people lost jobs in September. This is a tell tale sign of job market weakness and directly impacts Americans in the work force. Specifically, Steven shares towards the end of the article that leisure, hospitality, business, and finance companies are among the strongest in decline. Smaller companies with 20-49 employees were hit the hardest despite Wall Street’s optimism in the job market’s growth over the next month. In contradiction, companies with over 500 employees noticed steady growth over the last month. Because of the government shutdown, we’re unable to access an updated official government report.
When digging deeper into the article, Steve lists plenty other primary sources where he found his data. In the ADP Employment Report, “a reduction of 43,000 jobs in September compared to pre-benchmarked data.” This provides past information on the 2024 job market in September and shares that were continuing to decline. Although the U.S. has had steady growth economically, this verifies the cautionary decisions current employers are making. He also directs us to another NBC article written by Rob Wile titled, “The U.S. economy grew more than thought in the second quarter” and his findings for the United States’ GDP. It’s grown up to 3.8% which may force the Federal reserve to cut back on their rates moving into this next quarter.
NBC has the potential bias to generalize their information to appeal to a wider audience and strike fear in this group of readers. They're interested in capturing the attention of the reader which leaves opportunity for more emotional statistics involved in Steve’s writing. The ADP Employment Report serves a more corporate audience which may allow their data to differ from other government regulated sources favoring the general public.
5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking? “Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in September” (ADP Employment Report) “Companies with fewer than 50 employees were among those hit the hardest in September, with firms employing 20-49 employees shedding 21,000 jobs and those employing fewer than 19 workers losing 19,000 jobs.” (Steve Kopack)
6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking? “Large companies with more than 500 people on their payrolls were the only to see gains, according to ADP’s report.” (Steve Kopack) “The trend was unchanged; job creation continued to lose momentum across most sectors.” ADP Employment Report suggests that job opportunities are slowing down but not receiving a full shutdown and cutting of opportunities.
