Washington DC [US], August 2 : US President Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whom he accused, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for "political purposes," CNN reported.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly labor report Friday showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. It also sharply revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June - by a combined 2,58,000 jobs.
After the revisions, the jobs report showed the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020, as per CNN.
"In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
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Although the May and June jobs numbers were worse than initially believed, revisions are normal in this process. The BLS' initial monthly jobs estimates are often based on incomplete data, so they are revised twice after the initial report followed by an annual revision every February. Additionally, BLS economists use a formula to smooth out jobs numbers for seasonal variations and that can exacerbate revisions when they fall outside economists' expectations, CNN reported.
Trump on Friday incorrectly called the revisions a "mistake."
"McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 2,58,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months," Trump said on Truth Social. "Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP.'"
Trump said McEntarfer "faked" the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris' chances in the 2024 presidential election, as per CNN.
"We're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So, you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing," Trump told reporters Friday on the South Lawn, as per CNN.
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