Overview

• President Trump dismissed Erika McEntarfer on August 1 following a July report showing a net gain of 73,000 jobs alongside downward revisions of about 250,000 positions for May and June.
• He labeled the figures “rigged” and cited Heritage Foundation economist Steve Moore’s claim that the Bureau of Labor Statistics overstated job creation by 1.5 million during the end of the Biden administration.
• An acting commissioner has been installed, with BLS leadership pledging to uphold current survey and revision methodologies.
• Former commissioners and independent statisticians, including Erica Groshen and William Beach, say the move threatens the agency’s nonpartisan mission and could erode public confidence in official data.
• Observers compare the firing to past efforts by Richard Nixon and Turkey’s President Erdoğan to influence statistics, noting that household survey response rates have fallen to 67 percent and payroll survey responses to 42 percent, intensifying revision volatility.