Washington — President Trump introduced E.J. Antoni as his nominee to guide the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Monday, after he fired the previous commissioner earlier this month, blaming her for a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
Antoni is a fellow on the conservative Heritage Basis suppose tank. He holds a doctorate in economics from Northern Illinois College.
Mr. Trump nominated him in a Fact Social put up, saying he “will be certain that the Numbers launched are HONEST and ACCURATE.”
Antoni will have to be confirmed by the Senate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is at present led by appearing Commissioner William Watrowski, who has labored on the company for many years.
Mr. Trump ordered his administration to terminate Erika McEntarfer, the previous commissioner of labor statistics, on Aug. 1, hours after the discharge of the July jobs report information. That report confirmed a pointy slowdown in hiring, together with a steep downward revision to Could and June’s hiring numbers.
Asserting her firing in a put up on Fact Social, the president claimed McEntarfer had “faked the Jobs Numbers earlier than the Election to attempt to increase Kamala’s probabilities of Victory” and pledged to exchange her “with somebody far more competent and certified.”
The roles report for October 2024, which was launched on Nov. 1, 2024, 4 days earlier than Election Day, confirmed simply 12,000 jobs have been created — far wanting the 100,000 forecast for the month — following two hurricanes and a significant labor dispute. The next month, that determine was revised upward, to 36,000. September’s jobs report, nevertheless, dramatically exceeded forecasts — 254,000 jobs have been created, slightly than the 140,000 financial analysts had anticipated. That determine was later revised right down to 223,000.
Mr. Trump continued railing towards the ousted commissioner and the BLS extra broadly within the days after he fired her, claiming in a put up on Fact Social final week that the July jobs report had been “RIGGED,” although he offered no proof to help it. The president mentioned on CNBC’s “Squawk Field” Tuesday that it is a “extremely political state of affairs.” And Nationwide Financial Council Director Kevin Hassett defended the president’s determination in an look on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” citing a sequence of revisions and patterns that “may make individuals marvel.”
“What we want is a contemporary set of eyes over on the BLS,” Hassett mentioned, including that “the president needs his personal individuals there in order that after we see the numbers they’re extra clear and extra dependable.”
McEntarfer had been commissioner for somewhat over a yr and a half, after she was confirmed in a broad bipartisan vote of 86 to eight by the Senate in January 2024.
The most recent jobs report confirmed employers in July including a weaker-than-expected 73,000 jobs, with a downward revision of 258,000 fewer jobs created in Could and June. Mr. Trump, who usually touts the job numbers, referred to as the roles figures a “shock” and the revision a “main mistake.” The BLS mentioned in its report that month-to-month revisions “end result from further stories obtained from companies and authorities businesses because the final printed estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal components.”
U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer acknowledged in an interview for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” earlier this month that “there are all the time revisions,” however he added that “typically you see these revisions go in actually excessive methods.”
“The president is the president. He can select who works within the government department,” Greer mentioned.
In the meantime, some economists and lawmakers have expressed concern over the firing, and a bunch of former BLS leaders warned that the transfer “undermines the dear work and dedication of BLS employees” and “escalates the President’s unprecedented assaults on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system.” The group referred to as on Congress to research the firing.
contributed to this report.
