President Donald Trump has fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a recent jobs report showed disappointing numbers. The Labor Department had reported weak job growth for July and also corrected past figures, reducing job gains from the previous two months by over 250,000.
Trump said he removed McEntarfer because the July report did not show what he claims is a strong economy, which he believes is a result of his policies. He insisted the numbers were misleading and didn’t reflect the current economic situation.
The Labor Department reported that only 73,000 nonfarm jobs were added in July, which was about one-third of what experts expected. More significantly, the numbers for May and June were revised down by a total of 258,000 jobs.
Even though it’s normal for job numbers to be updated later, the department said these particular changes were bigger than usual.
McEntarfer was picked by former President Joe Biden in July 2023 and officially took the position in January 2024. Before this, she worked at the White House as a senior economist, helping during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, supported the decision to remove McEntarfer. She posted on social media that she agreed with the move and said Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski would serve as acting head until a new person is chosen.
Trump accused McEntarfer of sharing false job numbers, though he didn’t provide any proof that the data was wrong or manipulated. He criticized the report for claiming only 73,000 jobs were added and for making such large corrections to past numbers.
He also repeated his complaints about Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chairman. Trump accused the Fed of lowering interest rates too late, just before the last presidential election, and claimed they were playing political games. The Fed has kept interest rates steady this year as it reviews the impact of tariffs and Trump’s economic policies.
Trump ended by saying Powell should be removed too, calling him outdated, but Powell’s role is protected and he can’t be fired unless there is a valid legal reason.
