WashingtonErika McEntarfer, the U.S. Commissioner of Labor Statistics, was fired by President Donald Trump on Friday, he said, without providing evidence, for manipulating employment numbers for political ends. Following the announcement of a dismal July jobs report that showed only 73,000 new jobs created, the decision was made.
In a post on his social media account, Truth Social, Trump stated that he had recently learned that Dr. Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, was creating our nation’s employment statistics.
Trump wrote, “We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” promising to appoint a candidate who is far more skilled and capable. He underlined that political manipulation of economic data is impossible.
After being nominated by then-President Joe Biden, McEntarfer—a labor economist with 20 years of federal service experience, including positions at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Census Bureau—was confirmed by the Senate in January 2024.
The labor market was not as strong as first thought earlier this year, as evidenced by Friday’s data, which featured downward revisions of 258,000 jobs for May and June in addition to weaker-than-expected job creation well below the forecast 105,000.
McEntarfer stated that only 73,000 jobs were added, which was shocking, but more significantly, they made a big error in the previous two months, lowering the number of jobs by 258,000. Trump shared similar incidents from the first half of the year, all of which were unfavorable.
Despite often pointing to his administration’s good economic success, Trump said the most recent figures were manipulated to cast the Republicans and ME in a negative light.
Later, when he spoke to reporters, he reiterated his statement: “I fired her because I think her numbers were wrong.”
Additionally, Trump charged that McEntarfer had falsified employment figures prior to the 2024 election in order to help Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. He cited favorable 2024 jobs reports under Biden that were subsequently downgraded.
Experts Reject Trump s Allegations
A number of former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) officials quickly retaliated, claiming that Trump’s assertions were unrealistic.
In a statement co-signed by William Beach, the Commissioner during Trump’s first term, a group of BLS supporters claimed that the Commissioner does not decide what the figures are but only reports on what the data indicates. To prevent opportunities for probing, the method of acquiring the numbers is dispersed by design.
Trump’s allegations, according to Beach and others, compromise the professionalism and integrity of the career civil servants who write the reports.
The statements, according to Heidi Shierholz, chief economist at the Labor Department under President Barack Obama from 2014 to early 2017, show a complete lack of grasp of how government statistical organizations operate.
She clarified that career personnel, not political appointments, are responsible for creating these figures. It is ludicrous to think that the commissioner could control them alone because there are too many parties involved who would notice right away.
That sentiment was mirrored by Keith Hall, the BLS Commissioner from 2008 to 2011. He stated that the employment statistics are purposefully not manipulable, pointing out that hundreds of workers contribute and that only about eight to ten persons view the final number prior to publication.
Hall, a Republican nominated by George W. Bush who later served under Obama, stated that all of the data and industry figures must line up. The numbers are practically impossible to falsify.
Trump Repeats False Claims About 2024 Revisions
In order to harm his campaign, Trump also claimed that job statistics were falsified in 2024 and then changed after the election.
The figures they released were really positive for Kamala. Trump told reporters that they were working to get her elected. However, immediately following the election, they had a drop of 800,000 or 900,000 on November 15th or roughly. However, it was unsuccessful.
That assertion is untrue. Actually, three months prior to the election, in August 2024, the Labor Department published a downward revision of 818,000 jobs for the 12-month period ending in March 2024. It was the biggest change of that kind in fifteen years.
We’re doing fantastically. Regarding the recent news, Trump stated, “I think the numbers were fake.” You are aware of what I did? I let her go.
He has not yet named a candidate to take McEntarfer’s seat.
The authenticity of the story was initially not questioned by Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. She did, however, publish a statement supporting Trump after he voiced concerns, stating that she fully agreed with the president that our employment figures must be honest, fair, and never manipulated for political ends.
Experts Say Process is Built to Prevent Manipulation
BLS commissioners usually don’t view the data until the report is written, Hall said. The night before it is made public, the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House has access.
Hall, who is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Mercatus Center, stated that there is a strong culture at BLS to be open and honest about everything. That is significant.
“I trust BLS more than I trust the Trump administration,” he added sharply. The president should look in the mirror rather than at BLS if he wants to understand what caused the figures to be weak.
According to Hall, if the economy is indeed slowing down, other government data will also show this tendency, acting as a cross-check on the BLS estimates.
Any attempt to fabricate unemployment data would need a concerted conspiracy involving 78 field agents in a single Census Bureau office, according to an earlier inquiry by the Inspector General of the Commerce Department. This is something that quality control measures would almost surely detect.
