Something may not be quite right in the U.S. economy, and it’s not just a one-off jobs report that points to that.

All the noise around the August Bureau of Labor Statistics report was about President Donald Trump‘s subsequent firing of its former chief, Erika McEntarfer. However, the report showed significantly lower hiring than expected. Sober judges of the current U.S. economic trajectory say the reported figures, combined with other indicators, suggest slower growth in the short-term and perhaps even worse in the longer run.