Trump fires labour statistics chief Erika McEntarfer after weak July jobs report

President Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, of manipulating employment data and fired her after weak July jobs numbers and major revisions.

In Short

• McEntarfer accused by Trump of faking job numbers, no proof found
• Experts warn politicisation threatens credibility of US economic data
• Job growth slowed sharply in July, attributed to Trump's policies

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 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

According to 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."

CONCERNS OVER DATA INTEGRITY

The recent dismissal of a senior Bureau of Labour Statistics official has triggered a wave of concern among economists, public sector unions, and data transparency advocates, as Trump-aligned Republicans label the official a “Biden holdover.”

American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley defended the integrity of the agency and its personnel. "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 Kelley, noting that the ousted official, McEntarfer, had served across multiple administrations over more than two decades.

While the Trump administration has not detailed the rationale behind the firing, allies have publicly supported the move, casting it as part of an effort to purge lingering Biden-era personnel.The incident has prompted broader warnings about the politicisation of economic statistics.

"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. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well."

Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disbanded two advisory committees tasked with helping ensure the reliability of US economic statistics. He has also floated controversial changes to the calculation of GDP, suggesting that government spending should be excluded on the grounds that “governments historically have messed with GDP.”

Meanwhile, the BLS has scaled back data collection efforts for key reports, citing budget limitations. Sample sizes have been reduced for both consumer and producer price indexes. The monthly employment survey—which typically includes data from around 121,000 businesses and agencies covering more than 600,000 worksites—has seen its response rate fall from 80.3% in October 2020 to just 67.1% in July.

With multiple shifts in data practices underway and political tensions escalating, experts warn that the perceived impartiality of US economic data could be at risk.

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.

- Ends
With inputs from agencies.