Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), a venture capitalist-turned-politician who is now the running mate of former President Donald Trump, argued this weekend that the U.S. economy under their rival in the 2024 White House race, Vice President Kamala Harris, is defined by a growing number of government jobs while the private sector diminishes.

During a rally in Arizona on Saturday, Vance highlighted the last job report before the election in which the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in October — much lower than the 100,000-plus jobs that analysts had expected. CNBC reported healthcare added 52,000 jobs and the government added 40,000 jobs while other sectors lost jobs.

.@JDVance: "The American economy last month lost 28K private sector jobs and 46K manufacturing jobs. If you read the jobs report, it says the economy gained 12K jobs all government — That is the Kamala Harris economy in a nutshell. You're paying higher taxes, higher grocery… pic.twitter.com/TB2DodQmOP

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 2, 2024

“It turns out yesterday that while Kamala Harris has been going around the country bragging about how good the economy is, it turns out the American economy last month lost 28,000 private sector jobs. The American economy last month lost 46,000 American manufacturing jobs,” Vance said.

“Now, it’s interesting, though: if you read the jobs report, just the topline: it says the American economy gained 12,000 jobs. You know what that means? All government — we created more government jobs than we did lose private sector jobs,” Vance added. “That is, in some ways, the Kamala Harris economy in a nutshell. You’re paying higher taxes, you’re paying higher grocery prices, you’re getting worse jobs with lower wages. But the government bureaucrats who work for Kamala Harris they’re doing just fine.”

Vance promised a turnaround if he and Trump were to win the presidential election. “We’re going to fire some bureaucrats and make sure we hire American workers at good wages,” he said.

The October jobs report, which came out less than a week before Election Day, indicated that hurricanes slamming the southeastern United States and the Boeing factory workers strike impacted employment. Still, it marked the smallest monthly gain since December 2020. Voters have rated the economy as being a top issue, with the rising cost of groceries and inflation establishing themselves as two leading causes of concern for U.S. consumers.

Meanwhile, the federal debt is approaching $36 trillion, resulting in large interest payments that tech entrepreneur Elon Musk warned could “bankrupt” the United States. Musk, who is being considered for some kind of “cost-cutting” role in a second Trump administration, suggested at the former president’s recent Madison Square Garden rally that he would like at least $2 trillion slashed from the federal budget that has risen to roughly $6.75 trillion.