announced on Friday the dismissal of the US Commissioner of , just hours after the entity had published its latest report on job growth and the economy.
Commissioner Erika McEntarfer has been leading the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) since January 2024. The post, a four-year term, is the only one in the agency that is appointed by the president.
McEntarfer was confirmed by the US Senate with an overwhelming majority of 86-8, with now Vice President among those who voted
The Bureau’s jobs report on Friday showed that just 73,000 jobs were added in the US last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated.
The report also suggested that .
What did Trump say?
Trump accused McEntarfer of tampering with the jobs numbers, but provided no evidence to back his claims of data manipulation by the BLS.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social.
“She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he added.
“In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” Trump said.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer followed Trump’s lead, writing on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would take over 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.
US economic data credibility at stake
Following the announcement, economists, labor unions and Democratic Party leaders criticized the move.
“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, adding that McEntarfer has worked in the federal government for more than two decades under multiple administrations.
“What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,” Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said.
“Politicizing 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,” he added.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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