President Donald Trump took the most dramatic step of all by firing Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of labor statistics. He acted so immediately after the job numbers came out that the jobs report showed a slowdown in job growth. McEntarfer, a very talented and respected economist with 25-years-plus federal government experience, became the target of this political firestorm. Last time, Trump argued that he was rigging job numbers just ahead of last year’s election.
In January 2024, four former commissioners of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) joined the chorus supporting McEntarfer’s nomination. Their support further cemented her credibility and deep professional standing in the field. Despite this support, Trump accused her of having “faked” jobs numbers. This mostly unfounded assertion has drawn furious rebuttal from the real experts in the field.
Paul Schroeder, exec director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, was vehemently opposed to Trump’s claims. He termed them “the most damaging and outrageous.” He warned about the consequences of these kinds of accusations on the confidence Americans have in our economic statistics.
Lily Roberts, managing director for inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, expressed skepticism towards Trump’s actions. She accused him of “shooting the messenger” for just reporting the bad job numbers. Roberts, who has experience working at the U.S. Census Bureau across multiple administrations, emphasized that politicizing economic data could hinder efforts to ensure all Americans have access to good jobs.
“Politicizing our country’s collection of data on what’s going on in the economy… will make it harder to create an economy that makes sure everyone has a good job.” – Lily Roberts
Plus, the latest employment numbers dropped a bombshell—job growth had come to a standstill this past summer. Those July numbers raised real fears that the labor market was tipping over. This follows big downward revisions for the prior estimates in May and June. Given this data, it’s hard to take Trump’s claim that the U.S. economy is “BOOMING” at face value.
Trump still offered no evidence to back up his accusations against McEntarfer. Critics contend that his actions could have dire consequences to the credibility of our economic statistics in the years to come.
“Not only does it undermine the integrity of federal economic statistics but it also politicizes data which need to remain independent and trustworthy. This action is a grave error by the administration and one that will have ramifications for years to come.” – Paul Schroeder
Roberts further noted, “Borrowing from the authoritarian playbook fuels more uncertainty that will cost Americans for years to come.”