BLS Commissioner Fired by Trump Over Jobs Data Dispute

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 1st that he had ordered the dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erica McEntaffer, accusing her of "manipulating employment data for political purposes" after expressing dissatisfaction with the latest jobs report.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he had just learned McEntaffer, an official appointed by former President Biden, was responsible for compiling U.S. employment data. He alleged she fabricated jobs numbers ahead of the 2024 election to help then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, though provided no evidence for this claim.

The BLS report showed only 73,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were added in July, with substantial downward revisions totaling 258,000 jobs for the previous two months - the worst performance since the pandemic.

The disappointing jobs data triggered a market selloff, with the Nasdaq plunging over 2% (its biggest drop since April) and U.S. stock market capitalization losing more than $1 trillion.

Trump stated: "In my view, the jobs numbers were manipulated to embarrass Republicans and me, just like around the 2024 election when they released three days of good numbers only to massively revise them downward on November 15, 2024 right after the election. It's a complete scam. 'Too Late' Powell is no better. But the good news is, our country is doing great!"

According to BLS records, McEntaffer is a career economist with over 20 years of federal service including positions at the Census Bureau, Executive Office of the President, and Treasury Department. Biden nominated her as BLS Commissioner in July 2023, with Senate confirmation coming in January 2024.

AXIOS reported White House senior economist Stephen Miran said an important statistical agency needed "fresh perspective," but notably did not echo Trump's allegations of political manipulation in Friday's jobs data.