President Donald Trump on Friday fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, after July’s U.S. job numbers were revised down.
U.S. employers added 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than expected.
What To Know
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” Trump posted on Truth Social, referring to former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. “This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers.”
He added: “I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.
AP/Mark Schiefelbein
What People Are Saying
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting ‘Kamala’ elected – How did that work out? Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump added in a subsequent post: “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad — Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were “taken away” on November 15, 2024, right after the Election, when the Jobs Numbers were massively revised DOWNWARD, making a correction of over 818,000 Jobs — A TOTAL SCAM. Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell is no better! But, the good news is, our Country is doing GREAT”
Ernie Tedescihi, the former head of Yale University’s Budget Lab, wrote on X: “I’ve worked closely with Erika. I know of no economist who is more data-focused & devoted to truth in statistics. She never shied from speaking truth to power when the data were disappointing. Nothing would be worse for US credibility than political meddling in our economic data.”
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota reacted to the firing, writing on X: “Breaking: Kill the messenger. Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets.”
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote on X: “Instead of helping people get good jobs, Donald Trump just fired the statistician who reported bad jobs data that the wanna-be king doesn’t like.”
Update 8/1/25, 10:00 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional context.
