WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. job market was much weaker in 2024 and early this year than originally reported, adding to concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers added 911,000 fewer jobs than originally reported from April 2024 through March.

The department issues the so-called benchmark revisions every year. They are intended to better account for new businesses and ones that had gone out of business. The numbers issued Tuesday are preliminary. Final revisions will come out early next year.

Last year, the revisions showed 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March 2024. Then presidential candidate Donald Trump declared the numbers had been rigged to conceal economic weakness and help Democrats in the 2024 election. However, he did not explain why the government would release the revised numbers two and a half months before voters went to the polls.

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This image from video provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees waiting to have their legs shackled at the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga. (Corey Bullard/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

Credit: Corey Bullard/AP