President Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, immediately after the release of a weak July jobs report, has prompted fierce backlash from economists, former career civil servants and democracy advocates.
In an editorial published Tuesday, The New York Times Editorial Board condemned Trump’s actions as “highly damaging,” arguing that firing the country’s top labor statistician for issuing data that conflicted with his agenda undermines the integrity of federal information and fuels public distrust.
The jobs report, which showed only 73,000 new positions added in July and included substantial downward revisions to May and June figures, was swiftly labeled “rigged” by Trump — a claim widely dismissed by experts as baseless.
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Former Bureau chiefs and statisticians stressed that McEntarfer had no ability to alter the data, which is compiled by a large, nonpartisan staff following strict protocols.
In its editorial, the NYT wrote: “A more grounded president might have considered whether the data raised questions about his agenda. Mr. Trump characteristically insisted that the questions were about the data.”
“But there is no doubt that Mr. Trump’s actions will cast a shadow over the rest of the government that he leads. Public servants must now do their work while fearing that they may be fired merely for producing information that displeases the president. Mr. Trump is also making it harder for the government to obtain information, as people and businesses asked to respond to questions now have reason to doubt whether the answers will be accurately reported,” according to NYT.
“One of Mr. Trump’s most powerful political techniques is to seize on problems as the justification for his destructive policies. There is a long history of politicians grumbling about the inaccuracy of the monthly government jobs report because it is usually inaccurate. It’s a first estimate, a rough cut, a best guess that is typically published on the first Friday of the following month. The agency updates that initial estimate as it obtains more and more accurate information; since 1979, when the agency started quantifying its mistakes, the first guess has been off by an average of 57,000 jobs. That’s a lot,” the piece added.
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