Trump Fires Labor Data Official After Dismal Jobs Report

President Trump said Friday he is firing the commissioner of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, claiming she has been manipulating jobs numbers for political purposes.The announcement, made on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account, came hours after the bureau released a jobs report that was much weaker than expected. It reported that the economy only gained 73,000 jobs in July and also sharply reduced the jobs gains reported in the previous two months, wiping a quarter million previously announced job gains off the books.Mr. Trump, who has touted the strength of the economy since he returned to the White House, complained that the numbers were adjusted “always to the negative.”“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Mr. Trump said in his post. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.”He claims the bureau also overstated jobs growth during the Biden administration to boost Vice President Harris’s chances to win the White House last year.President Biden nominated Ms. McEntarfer to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics in July 2023 and she was confirmed by the Senate in January 2024. She had previously spent 20 years in the federal government and previously worked at the Treasury Department.Senator Elizabeth Warren attacked the firing. “Instead of helping people get good jobs, Donald Trump just fired the statistician who reported bad jobs data that the wanna-be king doesn’t like,” Ms. Warren, a Democrat, said on X.Mr. Trump also took a new swipe at the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell in the announcement. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee voted Wednesday to keep a key short-term lending rate steady, while Mr. Trump has been constantly calling for lower rates.“The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.'”

Trump Fires Labor Data Official After Dismal Jobs Report

Trump Fires Labor Data Official After Dismal Jobs Report

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