White House defends firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics head as critics warn of trust erosion
By Doina Chiacu and Jasper Ward
White House economic advisers on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pushing back against criticism that Trump's action could undermine confidence in official U.S. economic data.
Later on Sunday, Trump again criticized BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, without providing evidence of wrongdoing, and said he would name a new BLS commissioner in the next three or four days.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBS that Trump had "real concerns" about the BLS data, while Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the president "is right to call for new leadership."
Hassett said on Fox News Sunday the main concern was Friday's BLS report of net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported.
Trump accused McEntarfer of faking the jobs numbers, without providing any evidence of data manipulation. The BLS compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data.
The BLS gave no reason for the revised data but noted "monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors."
McEntarfer responded to her abrupt dismissal on Friday in a post on the Bluesky social media platform, saying it was "the honor of her life" to serve as BLS commissioner and praising the civil servants who work there.
McEntarfer's firing added to growing concerns about the quality of U.S. economic data and came on the heels of a raft of new tariffs on dozens of trading partners, sending global stock markets tumbling as Trump presses ahead with plans to reorder the global economy.
Investors also are watching the impact of the surprise resignation of Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler, which opened a spot on the central bank's powerful board and could shake up what was already a fractious succession process for Fed leadership amid difficult relations with Trump.
Trump said on Sunday he would announce a candidate to fill the open Fed position within the next couple days.
REVISIONS ARE COMMON
In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," Greer acknowledged there were always revisions of job numbers, "but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways."
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, said large revisions of economic data could undermine public confidence and that government officials should develop ways of improving data quality.
"They can get this data, I think, other ways and I think that's where the focus ought to be: how do we get the data to be more resilient and more predictable and more understandable?" he said on CBS. "Because what bounces around is restatements ... that creates doubt about it."
Critics, including former leaders of the BLS, slammed Trump's move and called on Congress to investigate McEntarfer's removal, saying it would shake trust in a respected agency.
"It undermines credibility," said William Beach, a former BLS commissioner and co-chair of the group Friends of the BLS.
"There is no way for a commissioner to rig the jobs numbers," he said. "Every year we've revised the numbers. When I was commissioner, we had a 500,000 job revision during President Trump's first term," he said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, also criticized McEntarfer's firing.
"This is a preposterous charge. These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals," Summers said on ABC's "This Week."
LARGE REVISION
The BLS surveys 121,000 employers - businesses and government agencies - each month, seeking their total payroll employment during the week in which the 12th day of the month falls. The response rate has fallen sharply since the COVID pandemic, from 80.3% in October 2020 to about 67.1% in July.
Knowing that, BLS allows late-arriving employer submissions, and revisions to earlier submissions, to be taken into account over the next two months.
That means each month's initial estimate of employment for the immediately preceding month also contains revisions to the two months before that.
The revisions in Friday's report were large by historic standards. The downward revision of 125,000 jobs for May was the largest between a second estimate and third estimate since a 492,000 reduction for March 2020. That was the largest ever and was reported in June 2020 for the payrolls report for May 2020.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
2 hours ago
- The Mainichi
US guidance does not mention additional tariff exemption for Japan
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. customs guidance released Monday does not include a stipulation that imports from Japan already subject to tariffs of 15 percent or higher will not face an additional "reciprocal" duty, as stated by Tokyo following a recent bilateral trade deal. But the U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance states that goods from the European Union, which struck a similar trade deal with the United States on July 27, a few days after Japan, will not be subject to additional tariffs. An executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump last week modifying his administration's so-called reciprocal tariff rates, effective Thursday, also mentioned that imports from the EU would not face duties in addition to a 15 percent tariff rate, but it made no reference to Japan. Under the deal with the Trump administration, beef imports from Japan, for example, will continue to be taxed at 26.4 percent, so the new 15 percent tariff rate will not be added on top, according to Japanese officials. It remains unclear whether the terms of the agreement are being interpreted differently, something denied by Japanese officials. Given there is no written agreement between Japan and the United States, some Japanese opposition lawmakers have criticized the government for failing to minimize the risk of misunderstandings with the Trump administration over the implementation of tariffs. During a parliamentary panel session in Tokyo on Tuesday, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, repeatedly stressed, "There is no discrepancy."
NHK
3 hours ago
- NHK
Russia to stop abiding by defunct INF treaty, scrap self-imposed missile limits
Russia's foreign ministry says the country will no longer abide by a now-defunct treaty with the United States prohibiting the deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, known as INF Treaty, was one of the key nuclear arms control pacts between the US and Russia. The INF treaty expired in 2019 due to heightened tensions between the two nations. Nevertheless, Russia had maintained that it would refrain from producing or deploying INF systems as long as the US did not deploy similar missiles. The Russian foreign ministry issued a statement on Monday saying that "the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of American-made ground-based intermediate-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region." It noted that "the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared." The ministry added that Russia "no longer consider itself bound by the relevant self-imposed restrictions." Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the need to resume the production of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and to deploy them. On Friday, he revealed that mass production of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik had begun, and that it is slated for deployment. US President Donald Trump is urging Russia to agree to a ceasefire in its conflict with Ukraine by Friday. He has warned that if Moscow fails to meet the deadline, it will face severe tariffs.
NHK
3 hours ago
- NHK
Brazil Supreme Court orders house arrest of ex-President Bolsonaro
Brazil's Supreme Court has issued a house arrest order against former President Jair Bolsonaro for failing to comply with restraining orders put on him last month, including the use of social media. Bolsonaro is standing trial for allegedly plotting a coup in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election. Last month, the Supreme Court found that Bolsonaro had asked the US government to sanction personnel at the Brazilian court in a bid to stop proceedings in his trial. The Supreme Court imposed restrictions on him, including use of social media as well as nighttime and weekend house arrest. On Monday, the court said that Bolsonaro had since continued to disseminate messages through the social media accounts of his children and political supporters. The top court issued a stricter order to place him under house arrest and prohibit him from using cell phones. The decision comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to raise tariffs on Brazil to 50 percent, citing what he described as political persecution of Bolsonaro. Known to have close ties with Bolsonaro, Trump has been ramping up political pressure on Brazil's government. But it remains adamant that it will not yield to such pressure.
