Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment
report
[August 02, 2025] By
CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday removed the head of
the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a report showed
hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than
previously reported.
Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures
were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer,
the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by
former President Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for
the charge.
“I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee,
IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “She will be replaced with
someone much more competent and qualified.”
Trump later posted: “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in
order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”
The charge that the data was faked is an explosive one that threatens to
undercut the political legitimacy of the U.S. government's economic
data, which has long been seen as the “gold standard” of economic
measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have for
decades generally accepted the data as free from political bias.
Trump’s move to fire McEntarfer represented another extraordinary
assertion of presidential power. He has wielded the authority of the
White House to try to control the world’s international trade system,
media companies, America’s top universities and Congress’ constitutional
power of the purse, among other institutions.
McEntarfer's firing was roundly condemned by a group that included two
former BLS commissioners, including William Beach, who was appointed by
Trump to the position. They particularly objected to the charge that the
data was altered for political reasons.
“This rationale for firing Dr. McEntarfer is without merit and
undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a
cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses,
families, and policymakers,” the statement from the group, the Friends
of BLS, said.
In addition to Beach, the statement was signed by Erica Groshen, BLS
commissioner under former President Barack Obama.
“Firing the Commissioner ... when the BLS revises jobs numbers down (as
it routinely does) threatens to destroy trust in core American
institutions, and all government statistics,” Arin Dube, an economist at
the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said on X. “I can’t stress how
damaging this is.”
After Trump's initial post, Labor 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.
Friday’s jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month
and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously
estimated. The report suggested that the economy has sharply weakened
during Trump's tenure, a pattern consistent with a slowdown in economic
growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation
during June that appeared to reflect the price pressures created by the
president's tariffs.
“What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,”
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Friday
speech.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump speaks as Cody Campbell, left, and
professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau listen during an event for the
signing of an executive order restarting the Presidential Fitness
Test in public schools, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt
Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
 McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in
2023 and became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but
since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner
is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of
career civil servants.
The Senate confirmed McEntarfer to her post 86-8, with now Vice
President JD Vance among the yea votes.
Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to
previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just
19,000 from a previously revised 125,000, and for June they were cut
to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added.
The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%.
“No one can be that wrong? 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.”
Trump has not always been so suspicious of the monthly jobs report
and responded enthusiastically after the initial May figures came
out on June 6, when it was initially reported that the economy added
139,000 jobs.
“GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!” Trump posted at the time.
That estimate was later revised down to 125,000 jobs, prior to the
most recent revision down to just 19,000.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump was more critical: He often attacked
the jobs figures as they showed the unemployment rate steadily
declining while Obama was still president, only to immediately
switch to praising the data once he was in office, as steady job
gains continued.
The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched
pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in
financial markets. The disappointing figure sent U.S. market indexes
about 1.5% lower on Friday.
The revisions to the May and June numbers were quite large and
surprising to many economists. At the same time, every monthly jobs
report includes revisions to the prior two months' figures. Those
revisions occur as the government receives more responses from
businesses to its survey, which helps provide a more complete
picture of employment trends each month.
In the past decade, companies have taken longer to respond, which
may have contributed to larger monthly revisions.
The proportion of companies responding to the surveys has also
fallen steadily over the past 10 years, but the survey still gets
responses from roughly 200,000 business locations, which can be
independent companies or franchises of larger chains.
The monthly jobs report has long been closely guarded within the BLS,
with early copies held in safes under lock and key to prevent any
leaks or early dissemination.
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