Non-farm data leaked early? Trump’s social media "slip" exposes key employment report

On January 10th, Thursday evening local time, U.S. President Trump posted a chart on his social platform Truth Social containing key U.S. non-farm employment data that had not yet been made public, nearly a day before the official release, sparking market and public attention. The chart shows that since January this year, the U.S. private sector has added 654,000 jobs, while government employment has decreased by 181,000 jobs. The relevant data was originally scheduled to be officially released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday along with the December non-farm employment report. The White House later responded, stating that this disclosure was an “unintentional act,” and announced that it would review the release of economic data and embargo agreements. White House officials explained that the President is legally entitled to receive some economic data in advance, and that some of the data used in the chart came from legitimate early briefings, but should not be publicly released during the embargo period. Trump himself stated that he was not responsible and said, “Let them have the opportunity to release it.” Notably, this is not the first time Trump has caused controversy by hinting at or disclosing non-farm data in advance. On the market side, after this incident, U.S. stock index futures experienced only slight fluctuations during light trading hours, with no obvious abnormalities so far. Analysts warn that such incidents could undermine trust in the neutrality and credibility of official U.S. economic data. KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk pointed out that leaking sensitive data early could undermine market fairness and prompt investors to “interpret signals from the President’s social media” before the official release, thereby increasing volatility risks.