President Donald Trump on Friday fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt.
In a Truth Social post that also directed even more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data.
"I was just informed that our Country's 'Jobs Numbers' are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's [Harris'] chances of Victory," Trump wrote.
"We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," he added.
A spokesperson for the bureau told CNBC, "BLS can confirm Commissioner Erika McEntarfer was terminated today. Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as Acting Commissioner for BLS."
The BLS operates under the Department of Labor, whose commissioner, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is a Trump appointee.
The stunning move came the same day that the BLS reported a gain of just 73,000 nonfarm jobs in July, below market expectations. In addition, the bureau revised the two previous months down sharply, cutting a combined 258,000 from the prior counts, putting the three-month growth rate at a paltry 35,000. It was the biggest two-month downward revision since April 2020, the early days of the Covid crisis.
Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly criticized the BLS over the years for its data collection. In particular, the large revisions have been a target. Trump noted that the BLS last year also announced major revisions, taking down the 12-month payrolls gain preceding March 2024 by 818,000.
In his spending plan this year, Trump proposed an 8% reduction in staff at the bureau, raising questions over the integrity of its counts on employment, consumer prices and multiple other economic metrics. The bureau has had to impute a growing amount of estimated data into a number of its reports.
"Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes," the president wrote. "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative."
Prior to Friday's report, Trump repeatedly has championed the strength of the labor market. After the June numbers had been released initially, the White House put out a statement calling it a "June Boom."
The weak jobs report Friday preceded a sharp drop in markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off more than 500 points and the tech-focused Nasdaq off more than 2%. Treasury yields also slumped.
"I can't believe what I just saw," said Peter Mallouk, president and chief investment officer of Creative Planning. Trump's social media post seemed like a parody or satire at first, Mallouk said.
"This is not healthy," he added. "We can't have a set of numbers come out and fire somebody that served under numerous administrations in various roles because you don't like the numbers."
William Beach, a 2017 Trump appointee and McEntarfer's immediate predecessor at BLS, also sharply criticized her firing.
"The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau," Beach posted on X.
"This escalates the President's unprecedented attacks on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system," Beach added in a statement. "The President seeks to blame someone for unwelcome economic news."
Along with his tirade against McEntarfer and the BLS, Trump for at least the third time Friday tore into the Fed's Powell, who has advocated that the central bank not lower interest rates until it has a better idea of how the president's tariffs will impact inflation.
"The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP' despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting 'Kamala' elected – How did that work out?" Trump wrote. "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell should also be put 'out to pasture.'"
The Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank's monetary policy arm, on Wednesday voted to keep its benchmark interest rate steady, where it has been since December. However, following the weak jobs report, futures markets priced in a strong possibility the Fed will cut in September.
