President Donald Trump didn’t like the latest job numbers and revisions to the May and June statistics, so he just fired the chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump keeps insisting “The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP,’ despite the impact of thousands of federal layoffs over the past five months and a whipsawing policy on tariffs that is hurting big and small businesses alike.
“This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump said in trying to justify the political move to fire McEntarfer, which he clearly states is political in nature in his post.
“Banana Republic hours,” is how Niskanen Center employment policy fellow Matt Darling characterized Trump’s move on X.
“He claims without proof the data is being politically manipulated,” noted CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe.
Trump ousting the head of BLS because he doesn’t like the unemployment numbers is so egregious that the former Chief of Staff at the Department of Labor, which oversees the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said, “I cannot tell you how outrageous this is.”
“Commissioners are appointed to a fixed term. We had a Trump appointee we worked closely w/. Nobody is faking numbers. Revisions happen all the time,” said Dan Koh, who worked under the Biden administration.
“Here’s why this is such a big deal,” Koh continued in his post on X.
“The Commissioner leads career statisticians who scientifically calculate the jobs numbers the world relies on to make key economic decisions. Trump can now appoint a loyalist who just makes them up — to benefit him politically.”
“Unbelievable. So now we can look forward to his own custom data reporting to fit his narrative of lies? What an incomparable & dangerous narcissist,” one X user wrote. “No accountability. Nothing is ever his fault – what a big baby,” another said.
The U.S. added just 73,000 jobs in July as the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The May and June jobless numbers were also revised lower by a combined 258,000 fewer jobs added to the payrolls in those months.
“Bad news for the Republican Congress, I know, but it’s getting to point that they must be beginning to realize that, if they want the economy and the country to survive in any reasonable form, they are going to have to get this guy out of there,” a Threads user observed.
But there have been big revisions to all kinds of economic statistics under several administrations, leading some to urge a change in the system.
But the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union issued this warning after Trump announced he was firing McEntarfer after news of a weak jobs report.
“BLS puts out the jobs reports, CPI inflation, productivity and employment cost index, among other key statistics. This is basically unprecedented and will raise concerns about US data integrity going forward.”
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