Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump on Friday removed the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a record evidenced hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously published Trump in a post on his social media platform alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and mentioned that Erika McEntarfer the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics who was appointed by former President Joe Biden should be fired He provided no evidence for the charge I have directed my Band to fire this Biden Political Appointee STRAIGHTAWAY Trump stated on Truth Social She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified After his post Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer commented on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski the deputy commissioner would serve as the acting director I help the President s decision to replace Biden s Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the significant and influential details coming from BLS Chavez-DeRemer explained Friday s jobs statement revealed that just jobs were added last month and that fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in and became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in January Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency which has hundreds of career civil servants Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring details Job gains in May were revised down to just from and for June they were cut to from In July only positions were added The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low from No one can be that wrong We need accurate Jobs Numbers Trump wrote She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified Critical numbers like this must be fair and accurate they can t be manipulated for political purposes The monthly employment overview is one of the most of closely-watched pieces of administration economic details and can cause sharp swings in financial markets The disappointing figure sent U S area indexes about lower Friday While the jobs numbers are often the subject of political spin economists and Wall Street investors with millions of dollars at stake have consistently accepted U S regime economic facts as free from political manipulation