Donald Trump did not like the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on unemployment, so he fired the Commissioner of Labor Statistics. Dr. Erika McEntarfer. Prominent conservative economists, including Dr. Michael Strain, from the American Enterprise Institute, pushed back. “President Trump is completely wrong in asserting there’s been any sort of anti-Trump bias in the labor market data. I think that assertion is wholly unsupported.”

Link: Wikipedia, Dr. Erika McEntarfer

Link, New York Times, Trump, Claiming Weak Jobs Numbers Were ‘Rigged,’ Fires Labor Official

If the data were “rigged” as Donald Trump claims, Dr. Michael Strain would know. He is currently the Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. The experts in labor statistics concur that there was no scandal. The Bureau has 2100 employees, and I am certain conservative news outlets are eager to find one employee who can back up Donald Trump’s claims of rigged statistics.

Trump claimed without evidence that the commissioner “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory.” (I believe this is a social media post).

Nobody is faking numbers,” former Labor Department chief of staff Daniel Koh wrote on X. “Revisions happen all the time.” Trump has previously praised the BLS reports, when they were favorable to his administration in April, May and June. (See NBC News link at the end of this post).

In fact, the only the Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-Deremer thought it was a good idea to shoot the messenger of bad news. She didn’t say the numbers were rigged, as Trump did, because that is a criminal accusation.

Labor statistics require a team of highly trained professionals. The Bureau is very open on its data collection procedures and deadlines. In industry, when financial results fall far below expectations, the most common trick is to slide the reporting date. BLS can’t do this, their deadlines for the various reports are set in January of each year. The data collection transparency and fixed deadlines are excellent measures to keep the reporting honest.

Dr. Erika McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in January 2023 by a vote of 86 to 8. Conservative media (MAGA) outlets will point out she was nominated by Biden. That’s about the worse they can say about Dr. McEntarfer. She served in government for 20 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations. JD Vance voted in favor of her as Commissioner. He was a Senator at the time of the vote.

The BLS had to cut back on the number of surveys they could conduct, because of Trump’s layoffs and employees who accepted severance packages. As a result, BLS is less able to do their job.

Trump is not draining the swamp, he’s adding to it. He is getting rid of honest directors and commissioners and adding MAGA loyalists, who will tow the party line that tariffs are great and our economy is wonderful.

“The politicization of economic data and potential interference with it by political appointees is something that’s typically seen in nondemocratic countries like Russia, Venezuela or China.” (NBC News, see link at the end of this post). Not the US.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Links:

Wikipedia, Michael Strain

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Current Employment Statistics – National: Data sources (From Handbook of Methods)

NBC News: Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after the release of weak jobs report

Quotes from NBC news: “In May, the White House said that April’s jobs report “proved” that Trump was “revitalizing” the economy. In June, Trump posted, “GREAT JOBS NUMBERS” on Truth Social.

Wikipedia: Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-Deremer

Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer was approved 67-32 on March 28, 2025. Seems her only government experience is 2 years in the House of Representatives. Previous to this, she was the mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon.