Europe Asia News

According to the report, the U.S. labor market added 73,000 new jobs in July, significantly below expectations. Figures from previous months were also revised downward in light of new information on labor market developments.

Trump accused Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of manipulating the numbers to politically attack the administration, although he offered no concrete evidence.

On Truth Social, Trump wrote: “We need ACCURATE employment numbers. I’ve directed my team to IMMEDIATELY fire this Biden-appointed political hack.”

Later that day, he added: “I believe today’s jobs numbers were FAKE, crafted to make Republicans and the U.S. look bad.”

The agency routinely revises labor market reports as more data becomes available. However, the revisions in this latest report were particularly dramatic: May’s job creation was revised down from 125,000 to 19,000, and June’s from 147,000 to 14,000.

William Beach, McEntarfer’s predecessor who was appointed by Trump in 2019, condemned the dismissal. On platform X, he wrote: “The completely unjustified removal of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as BLS Director, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the agency’s statistical mission.”

Beach continued: “The President wants someone to blame for bad economic news. But he doesn’t decide the numbers – he just reports what the data show. The counting process is deliberately decentralized to eliminate interference. The BLS uses the same tried, transparent, and reliable methodology each month. Estimates for the previous two months are revised monthly to reflect more accurate data.”