Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after the release of weak jobs report

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hours after a stunning government report showed that hiring had slowed down significantly over the past three months.

Taking to Truth Social, he attacked Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the BLS. He claimed that the country's jobs reports "are being produced by Biden appointee" and ordered his administration to terminate her.

"We need accurate Jobs Numbers," Trump wrote. "She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes."

The BLS on Friday morning reported that the U.S. economy added just 73,000 jobs in July, well below estimates. It also said it had revised the May and June numbers and they turned out to be lower than previously announced by more than 200,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate in July was unchanged at 4.2%, but more people left the labor force, according to the report. Payrolls have now averaged just 35,000 over the last three months — the weakest pace of job growth since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

The deputy commissioner of BLS, Bill Wiatrowski, who took up the role during the Obama administration, will become the acting chief "during the search for a replacement," Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said.

The BLS routinely revises economic data such as the jobs report, GDP figures and inflation data. Due to the scale of the U.S. economy and response rates to BLS surveys, there can often be lags in data collection. But that lag does not imply any wrongdoing or manipulation.

"Nobody is faking numbers," former Labor Department chief of staff Daniel Koh wrote on X. "Revisions happen all the time."

At the same time, Trump, who recently resumed attacking Fed Chair Jerome Powell, said that the central bank chief "should also be put 'out to pasture.'"

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler is stepping down from the central bank's board, giving President Trump the chance to appoint an early replacement amid his monthslong campaign to badger Fed officials into lowering interest rates.

The announcement comes just two days after the Fed said it would hold its key interest rate steady, despite mounting pressure from Trump to trim rates, USA Today reported.

Dow closes 500 points lower Friday as weak jobs data and new tariffs incite sell-off

Stocks tumbled on Friday to kick off August trading as investors weighed stark signs of a weakening economy and President Trump’s modified tariff rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 542.40 points, or 1.23%, closing at 43,588.58. The S&P 500 shed 1.60% to end at 6,238.01, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.24% and settled at 20,650.13.

Trump’s overnight rollout of updated duties that ranged from 10% to 41% also weighed on sentiment. Goods that have been transshipped in a bid to avoid the tariffs will face another 40% levy, according to the White House.
Canada, one of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, will now have a 35% levy. That’s up from 25%. (Source: NBC News)