President Donald Trump has fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics…
…whom he accused, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for “political purposes.”
CNN report:
“ The BLS’ monthly labor report Friday showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. It also sharply revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June – by a combined 258,000 jobs.
After the revisions, the jobs report showed the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020.
“McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative.
The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP.’”
Trump said that McEntarfer “faked” the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances in the 2024 presidential election.
“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 said on Truth Social Friday.
McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate 86-8 in January 2024 for a term of four years. CNN has reached out to McEntarfer for comment.
Trump has previously criticized the BLS for its jobs data and revisions. In 2016, during his first presidential campaign, Trump claimed that the unemployment rate was significantly higher than the BLS let on. In 2024, he accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of orchestrating a cover-up, after the BLS reported that it had overcounted jobs by 818,000 over the previous 12 months.
But Trump and his administration have also praised the BLS data when it has been favorable to them. During Trump’s first term, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in March 2017 that the jobs data was no longer “phony” after the BLS issued a strong jobs report. And a month ago, current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media that the economy had beat expectations for jobs in four straight BLS labor reports.
The BLS is nonpartisan, and businesses and government officials rely on the accuracy of its data to make determinations about investment, hiring, spending and all sorts of key decisions.
“It’s outrageous for anyone in government to question the integrity of the BLS,” said Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former Obama economic adviser. “Accurate statistics are essential to the economy.”
Furman doubted that replacing McEntarfer would compromise the BLS, but he said even the possibility or appearance of that notion “would be bad.”
“Countries that have tried to fake those statistics have often ended up with economic crisis as a result,” Furman said.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
My comments:
This is what happens when you appoint someone with integrity who reports that data faithfully. If the POTUS were a man of integrity and honest, he wouldn’t be firing her.
He’d be discussing these horrible numbers with real expert economists and come up with a comprehensive plan to improve matters. He would reflect on his own policies and evaluate them fairly to identify where he and his “experts” got things wrong.
But not tRUMP. That’s not tRUMP’s way! Oh no!
Instead, tRUMP looks for a scapegoat. And all the while everyone else can see that the “Fool On The Hill” is tRUMP himself!
CNN report:
“ The BLS’ monthly labor report Friday showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. It also sharply revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June – by a combined 258,000 jobs.
After the revisions, the jobs report showed the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020.
“McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative.
The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP.’”
Trump said that McEntarfer “faked” the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances in the 2024 presidential election.
“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 said on Truth Social Friday.
McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate 86-8 in January 2024 for a term of four years. CNN has reached out to McEntarfer for comment.
Trump has previously criticized the BLS for its jobs data and revisions. In 2016, during his first presidential campaign, Trump claimed that the unemployment rate was significantly higher than the BLS let on. In 2024, he accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of orchestrating a cover-up, after the BLS reported that it had overcounted jobs by 818,000 over the previous 12 months.
But Trump and his administration have also praised the BLS data when it has been favorable to them. During Trump’s first term, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in March 2017 that the jobs data was no longer “phony” after the BLS issued a strong jobs report. And a month ago, current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media that the economy had beat expectations for jobs in four straight BLS labor reports.
The BLS is nonpartisan, and businesses and government officials rely on the accuracy of its data to make determinations about investment, hiring, spending and all sorts of key decisions.
“It’s outrageous for anyone in government to question the integrity of the BLS,” said Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former Obama economic adviser. “Accurate statistics are essential to the economy.”
Furman doubted that replacing McEntarfer would compromise the BLS, but he said even the possibility or appearance of that notion “would be bad.”
“Countries that have tried to fake those statistics have often ended up with economic crisis as a result,” Furman said.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
My comments:
This is what happens when you appoint someone with integrity who reports that data faithfully. If the POTUS were a man of integrity and honest, he wouldn’t be firing her.
He’d be discussing these horrible numbers with real expert economists and come up with a comprehensive plan to improve matters. He would reflect on his own policies and evaluate them fairly to identify where he and his “experts” got things wrong.
But not tRUMP. That’s not tRUMP’s way! Oh no!
Instead, tRUMP looks for a scapegoat. And all the while everyone else can see that the “Fool On The Hill” is tRUMP himself!
