Labor Moves on Bill to Lower Drug Prices to $25 per Script
The move was spearheaded by the Albanese Labor government, with bipartisan support from the Liberal government during the federal election.
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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump fires labor statistics chief hours after data showed jobs growth slowed
Donald Trump fired the federal government official in charge of labor statistics, hours after data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer, prompting accusations that he is 'firing the messenger'. The US president claimed that Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of labor statistics, had 'faked' employment figures in the run-up to last year's election, in an effort to boost Kamala Harris's chances of victory. Trump later claimed: 'Today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad'. He produced no evidence for these allegations, and insisted that the US economy was, in fact, 'BOOMING' on his watch. But Friday's employment figures told a very different story, and raised questions about the state of the labor market since Trump's return to office. 'We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' McEntarfer was contacted for comment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirmed in a brief statement that she had been dismissed. William Wiatrowski, the agency's deputy commissioner, will serve as acting commissioner. Trump's abrupt announcement came as administration officials scrambled to explain a lackluster employment report. Not only did jobs growth fail to meet expectations in July, but previous estimates for May and June were revised significantly lower. The president was promptly accused of trying to hide accurate statistics. 'Trump is firing the messenger because he doesn't seem to like jobs numbers that reflect how badly he's damaged the economy,' said Lily Roberts, managing director for inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, a thinktank. 'Politicizing our country's collection of data on what's going on in the economy … will make it harder to create an economy that makes sure everyone has a good job,' added Roberts. 'Borrowing from the authoritarian playbook fuels more uncertainty that will cost Americans for years to come.' Paul Schroeder, executive director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, described the president's allegation as 'very damaging and outrageous', adding: 'Not only does it undermine the integrity of federal economic statistics but it also politicizes data which need to remain independent and trustworthy. This action is a grave error by the administration and one that will have ramifications for years to come.' McEntarfer is a widely respected economist and veteran employee of the federal government. She previously worked at the US Census Bureau under George W Bush and at the US census bureau under Barack Obama, Trump and Joe Biden. In January 2024, before McEntarfer's confirmation for her current post by the US Senate, her nomination was backed by four former BLS commissioners. In a letter also signed by organizations including the American Statistics Association and a string of senior economists, they said there were 'many reasons' to confirm McEntarfer as commissioner of labor statistics, citing her 'wealth of research and statistical experience'. She was ultimately confirmed by a vote in the Senate, with 86 votes cast in favor and eight against. Gene Sperling, chair of the national economic council under Bill Clinton and Obama, and who worked as an official under Biden, said he expected Trump to 'destroy the credibility' of economic data when his administration suffered its first bad jobs report. 'Now: first bad job report, and he just fired BLS head over absurd claims of bias,' Sperling wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Trump's decision to fire McEntarfer was 'outrageous but not surprising', said Julie Su, former acting US labor secretary under Biden. 'He hates facts, so he blames truth-tellers.' The US 'needs and deserves trustworthy economic data', added Su. 'This is a pathetic attempt by the president to gaslight everyone about the consequences of his disastrous economic policies.'
The Hill
8 hours ago
- The Hill
Trump labor secretary touts ‘native-born' share of job gains
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer touted that native-born employment increased in the latest dismal jobs report, which showed the U.S. added only 73,000 jobs in July. While calling for the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, Chavez-Deremer argued that businesses need to be able to borrow money at a lower rate so they can invest in their companies. She then pointed to the data about jobs for American-born workers. 'We've seen positive job growth. We have seen consumer confidence go up. We've seen unemployment hold steady,' Chavez-DeRemer said Friday in an interview with Fox Business. 'While we could have seen better jobs numbers, right now we're seeing American workers are being put first — native-born workers account for all of the job growth and that's key.' 'We're setting the table for a positive economy and the American worker is going to win in this occasion because the president has their back,' she told 'Varney & Co' host Stuart Varney. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released on Friday suggested the economy and labor market are much weaker than previously thought. The report though found that job growth among American-born individuals was 133,035,000, an increase from 131,037,000 for the same month in 2024. Among foreign-born individuals, employment declined to 30,764,000 in July from 31,001,000 a year ago. President Trump's response to the jobs report was furious. He fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her, without evidence, of politicizing previous job reports in the run-up to last year's presidential election. Chavez-DeRemer praised Trump's decision, saying she agreed 'our jobs numbers must be fair, accurate, and never manipulated for political purposes,' without offering any evidence to support Trump's claim.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
The dominant economic narrative has been revised: Chart of the Week
The US labor market has not been adding nearly as many jobs as initially reported. Friday's jobs report showed the US economy added 73,000 jobs while the unemployment rate moved higher to 4.2%. But the portion of the release that sent markets stumbling was "larger than normal" revisions to previous reports, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sign up for the Yahoo Finance Morning Brief By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy Changes to May's and June's reports showed more than a quarter million fewer jobs were added to the economy over those months. May's job gains were revised down to 19,000 from 144,000, while June's additions were cut to just 14,000 from the 147,000 initially reported. Monthly jobs numbers are always revised in later months. But these are not standard revisions. Outside of the 2020 pandemic, May and June's downward revisions were the largest since at least 1979, according to data compiled by Yale Budget Lab's director of economics Ernie Tedeschi. The job revisions came just two days after the Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady at its July meeting despite two officials dissenting and arguing the central bank should be lowering interest rates. In the subsequent press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the labor market as "solid" and pointed to a "historically low" unemployment rate as a key metric to watch when assessing the health of the jobs picture in America. Powell admitted job creation has shown slowing, but that has come with a decrease in labor supply due to less immigration, therefore keeping the broad labor market picture in balance. But market pricing and economists argue Friday's report was likely a game changer for the overall economic narrative and how the Fed will move forward. Following Friday's jobs report, the probability of a September interest rate cut from the Fed surged to 83%, up from just 38% the day prior, per the CME FedWatch Tool. "Surely, Chair Powell wishes he had these numbers 48 hours ago," Jefferies chief US economist Thomas Simons wrote in a note to clients. "A much more downbeat view on the health of the labor market would have made a more dovish message easier to deliver with confidence." Powell has argued the unemployment rate is the most important metric in the labor market to watch right now. At 4.2%, it's still historically low, but it did move higher in July. The number of Americans filing for weekly unemployment claims has also been calm. This illuminates the fact that Friday's job revisions aren't sounding a code red alarm on the labor market. But the Fed chair also talked extensively about "downside risks" to the labor market during his recent press conference. Friday's revisions certainly feed those fears. "The picture of labor market weakening has become much clearer now," BlackRock chief investment officer of global fixed income Rick Rieder wrote in a note following Friday's jobs report. "If the slack in the labor force builds at all, or we continue to see a below 100,000 jobs hiring rate persistently, we would expect the Fed to start moving rates lower, and a 50-basis point cut in September might be possible depending on how the data evolves." Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
