Trump dismisses BLS commissioner following underwhelming July employment figures under Trump's presidency
In a surprising turn of events, President Trump announced the removal of Erika McEntarfer, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), following the release of the July jobs report. The report showed a significant slowdown in hiring and substantial downward revisions to May and June's job numbers, with employers adding only 73,000 jobs—far below expectations.
Trump accused McEntarfer of deliberately reporting false employment figures to make his administration look bad, calling the job numbers "a scam." He ordered her immediate removal, alleging political manipulation of the statistics despite the BLS's process being designed for transparency and independence.
William Wiatrowski has been appointed as the interim head of the BLS following McEntarfer's firing.
The political conflict surrounding McEntarfer's firing centres on the perceived negative implications of the employment data for the administration's economic narrative. Trump has for some time called on the central bank to lower interest rates and has now started the process of finding a permanent replacement for McEntarfer.
Trump's accusations against McEntarfer and the BLS are not new. He has previously accused the BLS of reporting "faked" jobs numbers in the run-up to last year's election and noted a previous benchmark revision that overstated payroll growth last year by 818,000 jobs.
However, the BLS has clarified that the revisions to the jobs data were due to additional reports received and the recalculation of seasonal factors. Economists generally agree that July's jobs data and the revisions to May and June suggest a weaker labor market than previously suggested.
On the other hand, members of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, Chris Waller and Michelle Bowman, have expressed concerns about the Fed's approach to interest rates and the labor market. Waller stated that the Fed's "wait and see approach is overly cautious." Following Friday's jobs report, traders are pricing in an 80% chance the Fed cuts rates at its September meeting.
Powell was first nominated as Fed chair by Trump in 2017 and re-nominated to the post by President Biden in 2021. The legal hurdles to removing Powell from office are considerable.
The firing of Erika McEntarfer marks a significant development in the ongoing economic narrative of the Trump administration. As the search for a permanent replacement continues, the BLS and the Federal Reserve will remain under close scrutiny.
[1] Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced that Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski would serve as interim head of the BLS. [2] Trump announced his administration would remove Erika McEntarfer from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. [3] The July jobs report showed the US economy added 73,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.2%. [4] Job gains in May and June were revised down significantly: May's job gains were revised to 19,000 from 144,000, and June's additions were cut to 14,000 from 147,000.
- The media is likely to focus on the policy-and-legislation implications of Erika McEntarfer's removal from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with finance experts analyzing the potential impact on business and general-news outlets reporting on the political aspects of the decision.
- The firing of Erika McEntarfer could have implications for the ongoing debate in crime-and-justice circles about the reliability of employment data, given President Trump's past accusations against the BLS for allegedly reporting false figures.
- The shift in leadership at the BLS, from Erika McEntarfer to interim head William Wiatrowski, could potentially influence the future direction of the bureau's reporting, particularly in light of President Trump's criticism of the agency's job numbers.
