On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered the dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of manipulating federal employment data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that morning indicating that job growth in the United States had slowed to nearly stagnant levels.
Earlier in the afternoon on Friday, Trump took to his social media platform, “Truth Social,” to announce that he had ordered the firing of McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Biden to lead the BLS. Trump alleged that she had manipulated employment data multiple times.
In his post, Trump wrote, “We need accurate employment data.” He further declared, “I have instructed my team to immediately dismiss this politically appointed official by Biden. She will be replaced by someone more competent and qualified. Such crucial figures must be fair and accurate, not manipulated for political purposes.”
The employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning revealed that in July, the non-farm employment in the U.S. only increased by 73,000, and data from the previous two months was revised downward by nearly 260,000. According to the latest data, over the past three months, the U.S. has only added an average of 35,000 jobs per month, marking the worst performance since the pandemic began.
In his Friday post, Trump wrote, “McEntarfer claimed only 73,000 jobs were added (shocking!), but more importantly, they made a major mistake by revising down the employment growth numbers of the previous two months by 258,000. Similar situations have occurred earlier this year, always revising towards the negative.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not immediately comment on Trump’s statements on Friday.
Trump and Republican lawmakers have long criticized the data collection work of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, particularly the issue of significant data revisions, which has been a focal point of criticism.
In addition to criticizing McEntarfer and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Trump also reiterated his criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in his Friday post for steering the central bank to make the decision not to lower interest rates this week.