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CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Trump fires BLS commissioner, raising concerns about economic data quality
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump fired the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday (Aug 1) after data showed weaker-than-expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts. Trump accused McEntarfer, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump's claims of data manipulation by the BLS, the statistical agency that compiles the closely watched employment report, as well as consumer and producer price data. The US economy created only 73,000 jobs in July. Data for May and June were revised sharply down to show 258,000 fewer jobs created than had been previously reported. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The BLS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, will serve as acting commissioner. The Trump administration's recent mass layoffs of federal government workers have raised concerns about the quality of US economic data, long seen as the gold standard. Economists, labour unions and Democratic Party leaders criticised the firing as an attempt by the Trump administration to manipulate data and warned of lasting damage to the economy. "The civil servants at BLS are not political actors. They are professionals committed to producing accurate, independent data, regardless of who is in power," said American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley. McEntarfer had worked in the federal government for more than two decades under multiple administrations, Kelley said. Trump-aligned Republicans were supportive of the BLS firing, calling McEntarfer a "Biden holdover". DATA CREDIBILITY NOW IN QUESTION "Politicising economic statistics is a self-defeating act," said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward. "Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well." Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disbanded two expert committees that worked with the government to produce economic statistics. Lutnick has also floated the idea of stripping out government spending from the gross domestic product report, claiming "governments historically have messed with GDP". The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report. The response rate has declined from 80.3 per cent in October 2020 to about 67.1 per cent in July. "In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," Trump wrote in another Truth Social post, without offering any evidence. Economists attributed the near-stall in job growth to Trump's trade and immigration policies. They said uncertainty about where Trump's tariff level would settle had made it difficult for businesses to plan long-term. More clarity has emerged as the White House has announced trade deals, but economists said the effective tariff rate was still the highest since the 1930s. Trump slapped dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs on Thursday, including a 35 per cent duty on many goods from Canada.
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Brunei tweaks Bridgewater bet to a lucrative 20% stake in firm
[NEW YORK] Brunei's sovereign wealth fund pulled money from an investment in a Bridgewater Associates strategy to buy an almost 20% stake in the hedge fund manager's holding company, a move that has helped spur higher gains for other institutional investors. The Brunei Investment Agency is the latest longstanding client to buy a piece of the firm founded by Ray Dalio, which managed US$92 billion as at Dec 31. It's unclear which Bridgewater vehicle Brunei pulled money from, although the sovereign wealth fund remains an investor in all of the firm's funds, according to a source familiar with the money manager. Bridgewater's flagship Pure Alpha II, like many macro funds, has improved its performance in the past few years, but over a longer period, returns have been uneven. That means a long-term investment in the firm itself can be more lucrative than betting on its most popular product. Bridgewater has been selling stakes to institutions for more than a decade. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund and the International Monetary Fund have all purchased a piece of the Westport, Connecticut-based firm. The Texas teachers pension fund invested US$250 million in Bridgewater's holding company in 2012 and reported making an annualised return of 8.7 per cent to Mar 31. An investor in Pure Alpha would have gained an annualised 2 per cent from the beginning of 2012 to June 2025. Last year, the fund climbed 11.3 per cent and it's up 17 per cent in the first half of this year. Dalio recently completed his exit from the company, selling the final slug of his remaining shares in the money manager he started 50 years ago, and resigning from the board. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Airbnb touts good talks with New York City mayor candidates on rental ban
[CHICAGO] After pouring more than US$1 million into New York's mayoral race, Airbnb said that it's having 'really good conversations' with candidates about restrictions that wiped more than 80 per cent of its listings in the city. Chief business officer Dave Stephenson said that he is optimistic and that politicians are starting to realise the rules have not been good for residents, who cannot supplement their incomes with short-term rentals. It has also sent hotel prices in the city soaring, he said. Airbnb plans to spend US$10 million on getting homesharing-friendly politicians into New York City and state offices just this year. The company is pushing back on New York City's Local Law 18 regulation, which outlawed most of its short-term rental listings when it came into effect in 2023. 'Conversations are happening there, top-level conversations with the mayor and with mayoral candidates,' Stephenson said on Thursday (Jul 31). 'We are having really good conversations about the importance of supporting the communities and the economics in those communities and I think that they are realising that the law is not serving the community well.' New York politicians have argued short-term rentals have exacerbated the city's housing affordability crisis. The measure, which wiped out more than 18,000 of Airbnb's listings in the city within a year of coming into force, was strongly supported by the powerful hospitality workers union, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council. Stephenson, who was in Chicago to mark Airbnb's first global live music partnership with Lollapalooza festivals around the world, blamed the restrictions for rising hotel prices in New York. The average cost of a room in the city surged to a record US$439.71 in December, according to CoStar data. He also said smaller neighbourhoods are missing out on economic activity. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up 'There are so many boroughs that are struggling now, because you can't stay in Brooklyn, you can't stay in Queens, you can't stay in Staten Island – there are no hotels,' he said. 'People are not able to earn income from their homes, so they're actually seeing the negative side of this.' The company's super-PAC spent over US$1 million in the Democratic primary, targeting three candidates who did not support rolling back the short-term rental ban during the race: Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander, Politico reported at the time. In a separate statement, Airbnb said it's 'committed to supporting candidates who champion common-sense solutions to the affordability crisis, including empowering everyday New Yorkers, especially one- and two-family homeowners, to share their own homes as a way to afford their mortgages'. New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not respond to a request for comment. Remaining candidates, Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, did not respond to requests for comment. Jim Walden, who is also running, declined to comment. Stephenson did not specify which candidates the company was speaking to. Advocates for short-term rentals are trying to revise the law ahead of next summer, when New York will be one of several North American host cities for the 2026 FifaWorld Cup, an event franchise Airbnb has also partnered with. In March, the chambers of commerce for New York City's five boroughs sent a joint letter to the city council saying the regulations have had 'devastating consequences for small businesses'. A bill relaxing some of New York's stringent ban has been introduced in the city council, but it's a long way from viability, the bill has only a few sponsors and has yet to receive a hearing. Cities across the US are grappling with an affordable housing crisis, and several have turned to the regulation of short-term rentals after concerns that real estate speculators are entering the market, purchasing housing and then renting it on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. Chicago limits how many units within an apartment building can be used for short-term rentals and requires city approval and registration. While the city is weighing an ordinance that would allow council members to ban short-term rentals within their wards, the proposal has stalled. 'We found very specifically in Chicago that the actual residents of many of these neighbourhoods, we have civil rights people in the neighbourhoods, are actually advocating to keep Airbnbs because it's an important way for people to earn income,' he said. 'I'm really happy with where we are at in Chicago, because I think the neighbourhoods are actually starting to see the benefit and are speaking up.' BLOOMBERG
