Howard Lutnick, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce for Personnel and Business Intelligence Administration, is optimistic about the growing accuracy of the new Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) job numbers. This optimism follows the recent firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. On Friday morning, Lutnick’s interview went live right as the sun rose over the White House in Washington, D.C. This interview was recorded on June 11th, ’25.
Lutnick responded to inquiries regarding the reliability of the BLS figures ahead of the agency’s scheduled release of its monthly jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET that same day. That’s because the BLS had just reported a historic and sudden sharp deceleration in U.S. employment growth in July, which had raised suspicion and alarm bells.
President Donald Trump’s recent firing of McEntarfer on August 1 would lead to more accurate job statistics, Lutnick said. He thinks this forthcoming change will result in cleaner, more readable data about the labor market. He referred to McEntarfer as a “Biden administration holdover.” That suggests folks in her position have been obstructive on the contrary.
“Rooting against America and against Donald Trump, and that’s got to end,” – Howard Lutnick
Lutnick further elaborated on his perspective, stating that McEntarfer’s departure would help eliminate what he described as “people who are just trying to create noise against the president.” He asserted that making this switch would bring the BLS more in line with Trump’s administration. This simple change would have the added benefit of greatly improving the quality of economic reporting.
He noted, “So he can’t replace somebody two weeks ago, and you expect fundamental change, but what you will get is an agency that’s on [Trump’s] side, just trying to do the best and put out the correct numbers.” Lutnick’s comments reflect a broader sentiment within the Trump administration regarding the need for accurate data free from perceived political bias.
Former President Joe Biden’s appointee, Erika McEntarfer, was confirmed by the Senate in early 2024. Her legacy will be defined by her time spent fending off accusations that labor data was being politicized during an infamously unpredictable economic crisis.