Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a weak July jobs report showed only 73,000 jobs added

Donald Trump has fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, today, accusing her of distorting employment numbers in some plot to set him up.

The accusation came just hours after a new jobs report revealed a steep drop in hiring over the past three months. Trump claimed the data was manipulated to make him and Republicans look weak. “We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“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 also accused McEntarfer of sabotaging his 2024 re-election bid by publishing strong jobs growth numbers just before the election and quietly revising them downward shortly after. “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” Trump wrote.

“Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were ‘taken away’ on November 15, 2024… A TOTAL SCAM.”

Trump replaces McEntarfer after weak July jobs numbers

The BLS reported Friday morning that the economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than what analysts had forecasted. On top of that, the agency revised May and June numbers downward by more than 200,000 jobs combined.

McEntarfer’s removal came just hours after the release. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer confirmed that Bill Wiatrowski, a longtime BLS official who served under Obama, would become acting commissioner.

Chavez-DeRemer said the department would begin looking for a permanent replacement immediately. She added, “our jobs numbers must be fair, accurate, and never manipulated for political purposes.”

McEntarfer had only been in the position since early 2024. President Joe Biden nominated her in July 2023, and the Senate confirmed her with an 86-8 vote in January 2024. Among the Republicans who backed her was JD Vance, who is now Vice President.

Before her BLS role, McEntarfer had worked in the Census Bureau, Treasury Department, and on the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Trump claimed, without giving proof of course, that she “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory.”

Trump previously celebrated the BLS’s reporting when the numbers worked in his favor. In March, while speaking from the Oval Office, he pointed to “how good some of these numbers are.” In April and May, the White House released statements linking strong job growth to Trump’s leadership. In June, Trump posted “GREAT JOBS NUMBERS” on Truth Social after the report came out.

The BLS said it regularly updates figures like job growth, GDP, and inflation due to lagging survey responses. It collects data from households and businesses via phone, mail, online forms, and field visits. Officials said these lags are normal and not signs of manipulation. But Trump didn’t accept that explanation. He cited the 818,000-job correction made in August 2024 as proof that something was off.

Julie Hatch Maxfield, who currently oversees the employment statistics division at BLS, will stay on. She joined the agency during Trump’s first term.

Powell targeted again as $1.11 trillion wiped off the stock market

Trump also revived his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, referring to him again as “Too Late Powell.” Trump said Powell should be “put out to pasture.” For months, Trump has pressured Powell to slash interest rates faster. But Powell has warned about moving too quickly.

On Wednesday, he said, “If you move too soon, you wind up maybe not getting inflation all the way fixed, and you have to come back. That’s inefficient. If you move too late, you might do unnecessary damage to the labor market.”

This latest fight over jobs data landed hard on Wall Street. The U.S. stock market lost $1.11 trillion in value on Friday as stocks closed deep in the red. Analysts pointed to the weak jobs data and Fed uncertainty as major drivers.

The BLS, founded to collect and report economic information, says its job is to “measure labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making.” But Trump has now made it clear that he believes that process has been hijacked.

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