Trump's pick to lead BLS suggests suspending monthly jobs reports
More: Trump names conservative economist E.J. Antoni to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics
If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni would replace Erika McEntarfer, an appointment of former President Joe Biden who Trump fired on Aug. 1. Trump accused McEntarfer without evidence of manipulating data for "political purposes" after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the U.S. added a disappointing 73,000 jobs in July. Trump also complained about revisions that reduced job gains in May and June by about 258,000 and portrayed a much weaker labor market than Trump has touted.
More: Why jobs revisions that led Trump to fire statistics head were so huge
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed Antoni's recent remarks, saying he only "floated the idea of possibly" suspending the months jobs reports. She said it is "the plan and the hope" for the BLS to continue releasing monthly jobs reports.
"We need to look at the means and the methods, and how the United States is acquiring this very important data, and all of that is going to be done," Leavitt said during an Aug. 12 briefing with reporters. "And the goal, of course, is to provide honest and good data for the American people."
The Aug. 1 revisions for May and June marked the largest two-month revision ever outside of recessions, according to an anlaysis from Goldman Sachs.
Each month, the BLS provides an initial reading of job gains for the previous month and revises figures from the prior two months twice based on follow-up surveys.
To come up with its monthly job growth estimates, the agency surveys 631,000 job sites operated by 121,000 businesses and government agencies across the country. The bureau revises the data twice because many employers don't respond to the first survey or because officials modify the factors it uses to seasonally adjust the figures.
Most economic forecasters say this year's large revisions have cleared up a disparity between surprisingly resilient job gains and other economic indicators, such as gross domestic product, that have been feeble this year.
Contributing: Paul Davidson of USA TODAY
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
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