Trump fires BLS commissioner for reporting his terrible jobs numbers

If only there was math to check the work.

 

“If she was just fired because the president or whoever decided to fire the director just … because they didn’t like the numbers, they ought to grow up.”

North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, Republican

 

So what you're saying is that Biden should have fired her since the correction was made while he was in office (in August 2024) and implicitly the revision adversely affected his economic policy. The situation actually parallels what happened under Trump. BLS revised the previously overstated total number of jobs in its August 2024 report implicitly reflecting negatively on Biden yet he did nothing. In August 2025 BLS revised the total number of jobs downward correcting previously stated overly optimistic numbers and unlike Biden a year earlier the apparently butt hurt current POTUS fired the Commissioner in a case of responding to the message by firing the messenger.

 

Where are the ppl that were OPs of recent, economy related threads, more favorable to trump, based on invalid numbers??
I would think they’d be kinda upset.

Hello??? Anybody out there???

 

Fire the liar!

 

Even Trumps ex BLS guy is blasting the move.

Certainly no quitters in the supporters.

 

We don’t trust Arabic numbers, duh!!

 

You realize that happened because of a methodological change that she implemented (and had been in the works for years because BLS is purposefully slow moving and bureaucratic), right? I'm guessing that you didn't know that.

 

*Hire a liar

 

If the accusation is that she provided fake numbers, then it should be easy to show how it was faked. Burden of proof is on the accuser.

 

Can't wait to see the August employment #s .

 

Fired most likely due to three strikes against her.
1. She is smart
2. She is a woman
3. She is factual
This is not allowed in The MAGAverse.

 

I think this latest bit of fake news you are clinging to may need further analysis.

If this person that Trump fired was appointed in January, 2024 .... and the revision to the 2024 jobs numbers came in April, 2024 .....

.... then doesn't this mean that she actually corrected errors made in the numbers before she was appointed?


Could someone with more expertise please comment? @docspor, you around?

 

This firing is one of the more damaging “look at me I’m breaking-stuff” things Trump has done. This will hurt the trustworthiness of US economic data - the global gold standard. Do a honest research on this position/responsibilities, her background (well respected, wonkish stat type, confirmed 86–8 including Vance), and the authoritarian tendency of not repose negative facts. This will weaken our country.
Don’t just base it on “Trump says…...”

 

the WSJ has a pretty good explanation. The WSJ also called this outcome - weak job numbers - a month ago, pointing out that the later survey responders are typically also smaller companies more exposed to economic problems. &, don't forget folks, the adjustments to may, june, july, etc can keep on coming as more data becomes available.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-c...-was-it-employment-27df60f8?mod=hp_opin_pos_2

It helps to understand how the BLS produces its monthly jobs report. The bureau surveys some 631,000 workplaces by a variety of media, including phone, web and even fax. Many businesses don’t respond every month, but the BLS continues to collect data and revise its findings over the next two months.

The survey’s overall response rate has declined to 43% from 60% before the pandemic, and small businesses are less likely than bigger ones to respond, especially in the first month. The jobs estimate can also be off in either direction by 136,000 in any given month because of statistical chance. Such variations tend to even out over several months.

The survey also doesn’t fully account for business births and deaths. The BLS attempts to do so by using a model that incorporates other government data. When the economy is rapidly expanding, this model tends to underestimate new businesses relative to failures. But when the economy is slowing, the model typically does the opposite.

The BLS adjusts its job numbers and models annually based on more-comprehensive records from state unemployment insurance agencies, but there’s a lag. That’s why the bureau last August revised its job estimates down by 818,000 over the 12 months that ended in March 2024. If Ms. McEntarfer were trying to help Kamala Harris, why would she have done this before the election?