ATLANTA — A new report shows small businesses shed 120,000 jobs last month, and private companies also lost more than 32,000 jobs.
Atlanta-based companies UPS and Newell Brands cut jobs, as well as Comcast, General Motors, Amazon, and Verizon.
The uncertainty is making some Georgia consumers sour on the economy.
With consumer confidence low, one Georgia U.S. Senator is blaming President Donald Trump and his tariffs.
“It sucks,” Janice Walker told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot in describing today’s economy.
GDP continues to show growth, signaling a still-strong economy, but payroll processor ADP announced small businesses shed 120,000 jobs last month.
Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff blamed the job loss on the Trump administration’s tariffs.
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“This means that small businesses are hurting. It means that Georgians and Americans are losing their jobs amidst a cost-of-living crisis, and as we enter the holiday season,” Ossoff said on Thursday.
But Emory University economics professor Emeritus Dr. Ray Hill said it’s not that simple.
He points out that while small businesses were shedding jobs, big businesses were adding them.
But he concedes no one is sure where the economy is headed, especially with next month’s jobs report, which will include government jobs and mass government layoffs.
And the tariffs, he believes, are keeping prices high. That is leading to pessimism across the board.
“My deep uneasiness is that the uncertainty driven by the tariffs and its negative effect on the economy, all right, is going to mean that six months from now, we’ll still have persistent inflation above where we want it to be,” Hill said.
Nande Carter lives in Decatur with her kids. She summed up how everyone is feeling about the economy heading into 2026.
“You don’t know what you’re going to get. It’s just like everything is up in the air,” Carter told Elliot.
Ossoff worries that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, tax credits potentially expiring will also lead to higher insurance prices.
He’s calling on the Trump administration to repeal the tariffs.