Trump names new BLS head after firing old commissioner amid weak jobs report

Yahoo

4 days ago

Washington — President Trump announced E.J. Antoni as his nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Monday, after he fired the former commissioner earlier this month, blaming her for a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
Antoni is a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, and he holds a doctorate in economics from Northern Illinois University. He's defended Mr. Trump's economic policy moves in the past, including the president's tariff strategy. He has also criticized the BLS for low response rates and questioned the agency's methodology, calling its health insurance figures "phoney baloney" last year and at one point joking that "the 'L' is silent" in BLS' name.
"DOGE needs to take a chainsaw to the BLS...," he wrote in a November post on X.
"There are better ways to collect, process, and disseminate data—that is the task for the next BLS commissioner, and only consistent delivery of accurate data in a timely manner will rebuild the trust that has been lost over the last several years," he wrote shortly after Mr. Trump fired the former BLS chief.
Mr. Trump nominated Antoni in a Truth Social post, saying he "will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE."
Antoni will need to be confirmed by the Senate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is currently led by acting Commissioner William Watrowski, who has worked at the agency for decades.
Mr. Trump ordered his administration to terminate Erika McEntarfer, who had been commissioner of labor statistics, on Aug. 1, hours after the release of the July jobs report data. That report showed a sharp slowdown in hiring, along with a steep downward revision to May and June's hiring numbers.
Hours before her firing, Antoni criticized BLS for "data problems" and a trend of "highly problematic" revisions, though he also touted some figures in the July jobs report, including a jump in employment by native-born Americans and a slowdown in government jobs.
In the wake of McEntarfer's firing, influential ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon backed Antoni to take over the BLS. Antoni appeared on Bannon's show "War Room" on the day the jobs report came out, calling McEntarfer "incompetent." Days later, Bannon said "we're pushing" for Antoni to lead the BLS, and called him "the guy that almost single-handedly took it down by going through their numbers."
Announcing McEntarfer's firing in a post on Truth Social, the president claimed — without evidence — that she had "faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's chances of Victory" and pledged to replace her "with someone much more competent and qualified."
But Harvard economics professor Jason Furman, a head of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama, was sharply critical of the selection of Antoni, saying on X that, "I don't think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before. But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise. He would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats."
Jessica Riedl, an economist at the conservative Manhattan Institute, said on X that she's "never met EJ Antoni because he is not seen in many DC policy circles. However, the articles and tweets I've seen him publish are probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now. I hope we see better at BLS."
The jobs report for October 2024, which was released on Nov. 1, 2024, four days before Election Day, showed just 12,000 jobs were created — far short of the 100,000 forecast for the month — following two hurricanes and a major labor dispute. The following month, that figure was revised upward, to 36,000. September's jobs report, however, dramatically exceeded forecasts — 254,000 jobs were created, rather than the 140,000 economic analysts had expected. That figure was later revised down to 223,000.
Mr. Trump continued railing against the ousted commissioner and the BLS more broadly in the days after he fired her, claiming in a post on Truth Social last week that the July jobs report had been "RIGGED," though he provided no evidence to support it. The president said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday that it's a "highly political situation." And National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett defended the president's decision in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," citing a series of revisions and patterns that "could make people wonder."
"What we need is a fresh set of eyes over at the BLS," Hassett said, adding that "the president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers they're more transparent and more reliable."
McEntarfer had been commissioner for a little over a year and a half, after she was confirmed in a broad bipartisan vote of 86 to 8 by the Senate in January 2024.
The latest jobs report showed employers in July adding a weaker-than-expected 73,000 jobs, with a downward revision of 258,000 fewer jobs created in May and June. Mr. Trump, who often touts the job numbers, called the jobs figures a "shock" and the revision a "major mistake." The BLS said in its report that monthly revisions "result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors."
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged in an interview for "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" earlier this month that "there are always revisions," but he added that "sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways.""The president is the president. He can choose who works in the executive branch," Greer said.
Meanwhile, some economists and lawmakers have expressed concern over the firing, and a group of former BLS leaders warned that the move "undermines the valuable work and dedication of BLS staff" and "escalates the President's unprecedented attacks on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system." The group called on Congress to investigate the firing.
Jamie Lee Curtis: The 60 Minutes Interview
What will National Guard troops do in Washington, D.C.?
Derek and the Dominos co-founder Bobby Whitlock dies