President Trump claimed that the data was manipulated to make him look bad.
President Donald Trump removed the head of the agency that produces monthly job numbers after the report showed that employment was slower in July and was much weaker than previously reported.
In a post on a social media platform on Friday, Trump allegedly manipulated the figures for political reasons, saying Erica Mantelfer, director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence of the charges.
“I have directed the team to fire this Biden political appointee right away,” Trump said in The Truth Society. “She’ll be replaced by a much more capable and qualified person.”
Trump posted later. “In my opinion, the number of jobs today was equipped to create Republicans.
After his first post, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez Deremar said in X that Mcentarfer is no longer leading the department and that Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting supervisor.
“I support the president’s decision to replace Biden’s commissioner and enable Americans to trust the critical and influential data coming from the BLS,” said Chavez Delemer.
A employment report on Friday showed that 73,000 jobs were added last month, creating 258,000 fewer jobs in May and June than previously estimated. The report suggests a pattern coincided with a sharp weakening of the economy during Trump’s tenure, a slower economic growth in the first half of the year, and an increase in inflation in June, which appears to reflect price pressures created by the president’s tariffs.
“What do bad leaders do when they get bad news? They shoot messengers,” New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a speech Friday.
Revising employment data
Trump has sought to attack institutions that rely on objective data to assess the economy, including the Federal Reserve and the current BLS. This action is part of a broader mission to bring about the entire administrative body, including independent bodies designed to objectively measure the well-being of a nation under the control of the White House.
McEntarfer was appointed Biden in 2023 and became BLS commissioner in January 2024. The commissioner usually serves a four-year term, but is fired as a political appointee. The commissioner is the agency’s sole political appointee and has hundreds of career civil servants.
The Senate confirmed Mentarfer to post 86-8, and now Vice President JD Vance voted in the Yea vote.
Trump focused much of his anger on revisions made by the agency to previous employment data. Employment benefits in May were revised from 125,000 to just 19,000, and in June it was reduced from 147,000 to 14,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate has still reached a low of 4.2% from 4.1%.
“Can’t anyone do that wrong? You need accurate work numbers,” Trump wrote. “She’ll be replaced by a much more capable and qualified person. Such important figures must be fair and accurate. They cannot be manipulated for political purposes.”
Monthly employment reports are one of the most closely monitored portions of government economic data and can cause sharp fluctuations in financial markets. The disappointing figure fell by around 1.5% on the market index on Friday.
Although employment numbers are often subject to political spin, economists and Wall Street investors have been on the multi-million dollar crisis, they have always embraced US government economic data as politically unmanipulated.
