Payam Javan: President Donald Trump announced on August 1 that he has terminated Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, accused McEntarfer of manipulating employment data to boost the chances of his 2024 presidential opponent, Kamala Harris. The president emphasized the need for accurate jobs numbers, stating that important figures like these “can’t be manipulated for political purposes.” This decision comes as the BLS reported adding only 73,000 new jobs in July, which was below forecasts, along with significant downward revisions to job numbers from May and June. Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting commissioner while the administration searches for a replacement.

The firing is part of a broader ongoing controversy surrounding the BLS’s data collection methods. The bureau has faced criticism from Republican lawmakers, who previously alleged that job creation numbers were being overstated. Last year, annual revisions showed a significant overstatement in job creation, prompting a group of senators to question the BLS’s methodology. The bureau’s challenges have been compounded by government-wide efforts to reduce spending, which have led to a scaled-back collection of consumer price information and an 8 percent budget reduction request from the president. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has also weighed in, highlighting the critical importance of accurate data for the economy and government agencies.