Trump Fires BLS Chief Amid Jobs Report Turmoil

President Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a July jobs report showed only 73,000 jobs added and significant downward revisions for May and June, with unemployment rising to 4.2%. Trump, without evidence, accused McEntarfer—a Biden appointee—of manipulating the data to harm his political standing, an allegation dismissed by economists and former BLS officials. Analysts attribute the economic slowdown and rising unemployment to Trump's escalating tariffs and trade policies, not to data manipulation. The firing has intensified concerns about the integrity and independence of U.S. economic data, which has faced recent administrative shakeups and reductions in data collection. Experts emphasized that statistical revisions and margins of error are standard in labor reporting and not evidence of wrongdoing. Trump's actions have prompted bipartisan criticism and warnings about the potential long-term damage to public trust in federal statistics.