Trump Fires U.S. Labor Statistics Head Amid Largest Job Data Revisions

President Donald Trump's firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer followed significant downward revisions to U.S. job growth numbers for May and June, which showed an economic slowdown rather than data manipulation. Economists and former BLS officials rejected Trump's claims that the jobs data were rigged to make him look bad, emphasizing that the revisions aligned job growth more closely with other weak economic indicators like GDP. McEntarfer, a career economist and Biden appointee, was dismissed amid concerns that Trump's move threatens the traditionally nonpartisan nature of the BLS and may undermine trust in economic data critical for policy and investment decisions. Experts warn that politicizing the BLS could damage public confidence and complicate how future economic data are interpreted by markets and lawmakers. The firing also opens the door for Trump to install his own appointees in key economic roles, including the Federal Reserve, signaling increased executive influence over economic reporting during a time of tariff-induced trade tensions and consumer spending contraction. These developments have sparked anxiety about potential manipulation of economic statistics and their impact on the broader economy and policy decisions.