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Sonderling Discusses September Jobs Report in First Interview as Labor Secretary on CNBC

October 5, 2026 · USDepartmentofLabor · 0:07:37

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What happened

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling joined CNBC’s The Exchange on October 5, 2026, according to the Department of Labor. Sonderling said it was his first interview as confirmed Secretary of Labor rather than acting secretary, and he thanked the Senate for confirming him that week and President Trump for nominating him, as he stated it.

On the September jobs report, Sonderling said 1 million new private-sector jobs had been created in President Trump’s second term, as he stated the figure. He said the month added 46,000 private-sector jobs, dragged down by government job losses he described as rightsizing, and 9,000 manufacturing jobs, bringing manufacturing gains to 72,000 for the year, as he stated them. He said the manufacturing index had increased every month for nine months and contrasted that with what he described as 200,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the prior administration’s last two years, as he stated it. He also cited 112,000 construction-related jobs in the term and new unemployment claims at what he called an almost 66-year low, as he stated it.

Sonderling said labor-force participation had risen by almost 480,000 people in the month, with about a million people entering over two months, as he stated it, and he named workforce skills — aligning education and state workforce agencies with new high-paying private-sector jobs — as a top priority, as he stated it. Asked about department culture after his predecessor’s departure, he praised Labor Department staff and named OSHA safety, benefits protection, and proper paychecks as the mission, as he stated it.

Why it matters

The interview is Sonderling’s stated baseline as confirmed secretary: the private-sector, manufacturing, and participation figures he cited here are the numbers his tenure’s later jobs reports will be compared against.

Scoreboard watch

Sonderling’s stated figures — 46,000 private-sector jobs and 9,000 manufacturing jobs for the month, 72,000 manufacturing jobs for the year, as he stated them — are checkable against the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases they describe.

Sources: USDepartmentofLabor, “Secretary Keith Sonderling talks about the September jobs report on CNBC’s The Exchange”, 2026-10-05 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-10-05). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.