Trump orders firing of labour stats chief after weak July jobs report release

India Today

2 days ago

Trump fires Bureau of Labour Statistics Comissioner Erika McEntarfer (Photo:Reuters) Accuses her of faking July jobs data, demands immediate replacement
Claims lack evidence, BLS denies data manipulation allegations
Concerns rise over data quality amid mass federal layoffs
US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) ordered that the commissioner of the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics Erika McEntarfer be fired after data showed weaker-than-expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts.
McEntarfer was nominated by former President Joe Biden to serve in the role in 2023 and was confirmed by the US Senate the following year. It was not immediately clear whether McEntarfer, whom Trump accused of faking the jobs numbers, had been fired.
Trump took to his Truth Social account to inform about McEntarfer's firing. Trump announced the firing of McEntarfer over his Truth Social account
Trump lambasted McEntarfer and accused her of producing fake job numbers. "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.
There is no proof that supports Trump's accusations about the BLS tampering with data. The BLS is the statistical agency responsible for creating the employment report, which is closely followed, as well as data on consumer and producer prices.
The White House did not respond immediately to questions about Trump's post.
ACCUSATIONS
As per Reuters, Trump acccused McEntarfer of putting out the job numbers before the elections to help Democrats.
The order to dismiss McEntarfer comes at a time when the Trump administration's mass layoffs of federal government workers have raised concerns about the quality of US economic data, long seen as the gold standard.
Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.'
After his initial post, Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director.
'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Chavez-DeRemer said.
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."
ECONOMISTS' OVERVIEW
The BLS has already reduced data collection for the consumer price data as well as the producer price report.
Economists attributed the sharply slower job growth to Trump's trade and immigration policies. The 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. As per a report by CNBC, Laura Ulrich, director of economic research for North America at job site Indeed said that the July figure suggests the job market isn't keeping pace with population growth, and is therefore contracting. With inputs from agencies.
US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) ordered that the commissioner of the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics Erika McEntarfer be fired after data showed weaker-than-expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts.
McEntarfer was nominated by former President Joe Biden to serve in the role in 2023 and was confirmed by the US Senate the following year. It was not immediately clear whether McEntarfer, whom Trump accused of faking the jobs numbers, had been fired.
Trump took to his Truth Social account to inform about McEntarfer's firing. Trump announced the firing of McEntarfer over his Truth Social account
Trump lambasted McEntarfer and accused her of producing fake job numbers. "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.
There is no proof that supports Trump's accusations about the BLS tampering with data. The BLS is the statistical agency responsible for creating the employment report, which is closely followed, as well as data on consumer and producer prices.
The White House did not respond immediately to questions about Trump's post.
ACCUSATIONS
As per Reuters, Trump acccused McEntarfer of putting out the job numbers before the elections to help Democrats.
The order to dismiss McEntarfer comes at a time when the Trump administration's mass layoffs of federal government workers have raised concerns about the quality of US economic data, long seen as the gold standard.
Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.'
After his initial post, Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director.
'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Chavez-DeRemer said.
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."
ECONOMISTS' OVERVIEW
The BLS has already reduced data collection for the consumer price data as well as the producer price report.
Economists attributed the sharply slower job growth to Trump's trade and immigration policies. The 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. As per a report by CNBC, Laura Ulrich, director of economic research for North America at job site Indeed said that the July figure suggests the job market isn't keeping pace with population growth, and is therefore contracting. With inputs from agencies. Join our WhatsApp Channel