Trump nominates Heritage Foundation economist as labor statistics chief
'Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The nomination comes after Trump fired the BLS commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, earlier this month following the release of a weak jobs report which he claimed, without evidence, had been 'rigged'.
Antoni, a longtime critic of the agency, has previously voiced concerns about revisions to the BLS jobs data.
'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,' Antoni posted on X earlier this month.
The Senate will have to confirm his nomination to lead the BLS, an independent agency under the labor department. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that former White House adviser and rightwing provocateur Steve Bannon had advocated for Antoni's nomination.
In a statement on X, labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Antoni would 'provide the American people with fair and accurate economic data they can rely on'.
The president's shock firing of McEntarfer alarmed economists and statisticians – as well as some senior Republican lawmakers –who feared the move would undermine the credibility of the agency's economic data – long seen as a gold standard.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Inside Putin's phone call with Kim Jong Un
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a phone call to 'reaffirm' their close relationship and discuss mutual concerns. The call took place ahead of Putin's scheduled summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, where a ceasefire in Ukraine is expected to be discussed. During the conversation, Putin reportedly shared 'information in the context of the upcoming talks' with Donald Trump, though North Korea's statement did not mention this. Putin commended North Korea's support for Russia and praised the "bravery and heroism" of North Korean soldiers deployed to the Kursk region in Ukraine. North Korea has provided significant military support to Russia, including troops and equipment, and is expected to send more construction workers and deminers to Kursk.
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China, sources say
SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China, according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell (DELL.N), opens new tab and Super Micro (SMCI.O), opens new tab, which include chips from Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab. Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging — and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its 'security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers.' It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is 'not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments.' Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE — but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. 'Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do."
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
World shares hit record as rate hopes, inflation data buoy sentiment
LONDON/TOKYO, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Global share markets hit a record and the dollar was subdued on Wednesday, as investors cheered mild inflation data and signs of resilience in major economies, and expectations of a U.S. rate buoyed demand for riskier assets. The MSCI All Country World Index (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab of shares climbed for a second day and reached 950.13, an all-time high. Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225), opens new tab, meanwhile, set a fresh peak for a second-straight session. European stocks (.STOXX), opens new tab advanced 0.5%, with German shares (.GDAXI), opens new tab adding 0.6%. Tech and defence stocks led the gains. U.S. inflation readings, which on Tuesday showed the consumer price index (CPI) rising slightly less than forecast in the year through July, indicated President Donald Trump's import tariffs had yet to filter down to consumer prices. That helped Wall Street scale new heights, supported by increasing certainty that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month. "The fact that CPI was broadly as expected was met with relief, leading to equity gains and tighter credit spreads as investors became increasingly confident about another rate cut," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. Trump's signing of an executive order pausing triple-digit levies on Chinese imports for another 90 days also boosted optimism. Wall Street was also set for gains, with a gauge of S&P 500 futures up 0.7%. In Japan, a Reuters poll that tracks the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan business survey showed the Japanese manufacturers' sentiment index improved for a second straight month. Another report showed Japan's wholesale inflation slowed in July, underscoring the central bank's view that upward price pressure from raw material costs will ease. The Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab rose for the sixth straight day, breaking the 43,000 level for the first time and hitting a fresh record high. Risk-sensitive cryptocurrency ether rose to an almost four-year high above $4,679. The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of major peers, fell for a second day. It was last down 0.2% at 97.80 The dollar fell 0.2% against the yen to 147.47 . The euro added 0.3% to $1.1706, after a 0.5% jump in the previous session. Traders are pricing in a 94% chance of a Fed cut in September, up from about 57% a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Investors had been on tenterhooks about the inflation data because it followed a surprisingly weak jobs report on August 1 and had the potential to stoke concerns about stagflation - when an economy suffers both high inflation and high unemployment. Trump has nominated White House adviser Stephen Miran to temporarily fill a vacant board seat at the U.S. central bank, stirring up speculation about presidential interference in monetary policy. And the White House said it was "the plan" that the Bureau of Labor Statistics would continue to publish its closely watched monthly employment report after Trump's pick to head the agency, E.J. Antoni, proposed suspending its release. Speculation the labour report would be halted has "done the USD no favours and would have only incentivised foreign investors to review their hedging ratios on U.S. investments," Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said in a note. In sovereign bond markets, German 30-year bond yields fell on Wednesday, retreating from the previous day's 14-year high. U.S. crude fell 0.2% to $62.99 a barrel.
