• President Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a lackluster jobs report.
• The July report indicated only 73,000 jobs were added, far below expectations.
• Trump alleged data manipulation without providing evidence, drawing criticism from economists.

On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered the firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), following the release of a disappointing jobs report. The BLS reported that the U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, significantly lower than the anticipated 106,000 jobs. Additionally, revisions revealed a downward adjustment of 258,000 jobs for the months of May and June, leading Trump to demand immediate action against the appointee of former President Biden, whom he accused of "faking the Jobs Numbers" for political gain, according to Newsweek and Reuters.

Trump emphasized the need for "accurate Jobs Numbers" and stated on Truth Social that someone "much more competent and qualified" would replace her. He pointed to previous revisions that he claimed were politically motivated, asserting that no one could be "that wrong" about job counts, reflecting his distrust in the current administration's handling of economic data, as reported by Business Insider and The Hill.

The BLS, an important agency in compiling employment data, operates under the Labor Department and is typically seen as a nonpartisan entity. Many analysts and former government officials have expressed concern that such firings could undermine the integrity of economic statistics in the U.S. "The civil servants at BLS are not political actors," remarked Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, underscoring the risks of political interference in official economic measurements, according to HuffPost and Channel News Asia.

Trump's recent actions come amid criticisms regarding his administration’s economic policies and their impact on job growth, with some economists blaming trade and immigration policies for the current downturn. The firing of McEntarfer has been interpreted as an attempt by Trump to redirect blame for the unfavorable jobs data and further politicize economic statistics, echoing long-standing grievances he has had with the BLS during his tenure, as highlighted by ABC News and HuffPost.