President Donald Trump has called for the immediate dismissal of Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), following the release of disappointing July employment data and major downward revisions to job figures from previous months.
McEntarfer, a Biden-era appointee confirmed by the Senate in 2024, came under fire after the Labor Department reported that just 73,000 jobs were added in July. Compounding the blow, earlier estimates for May and June were slashed dramatically—from 144,000 and 147,000 respectively to just 19,000 and 14,000. The unemployment rate also edged up to 4.2%, from 4.1%.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused McEntarfer of manipulating the data for political purposes. “We need accurate jobs numbers,” he wrote. “I have directed my team to fire this Biden political appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.”
The White House has not confirmed whether McEntarfer has officially been removed from her post. There is no evidence to support the president’s claim that the jobs data was falsified.
The move has sparked alarm among economists, former officials, and statisticians who warn it could undermine the credibility of U.S. economic reporting. William Beach, McEntarfer’s predecessor at the BLS, described the action as “a dangerous precedent.” The National Association for Business Economics echoed those concerns, pointing to declining resources and staffing levels within federal data agencies as the true culprit behind statistical volatility.
“The idea that numbers can be manipulated simply because they’re politically inconvenient is dangerous,” said Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary. “This is something we expect in authoritarian states, not in functioning democracies.”
The job market slowdown comes amid ongoing economic headwinds, including President Trump’s sweeping tariff hikes on dozens of countries. Businesses, facing elevated input costs from tariffs on steel, autos, and consumer goods, have slowed hiring and investment.
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, called the report a “gamechanger,” noting that 75% of job gains in July came solely from the healthcare sector. “The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs,” she warned.
The weak data has intensified calls for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates. Two Fed officials—Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller—have publicly opposed the central bank’s decision to hold rates steady this week, warning that inaction could deepen the downturn.
Meanwhile, Trump’s newly announced wave of tariffs, set to take effect on August 7, adds to uncertainty for businesses already grappling with rising costs and a slowing economy.
