President Donald Trump on Monday nominated E.J. Antoni to be the new commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the company that collects and publishes information about jobs and inflation, after firing the earlier commissioner, whom he accused with out proof of rigging jobs information.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social publish.
Antoni is at the moment the chief economist on the Heritage Foundation, a conservative suppose tank. He has been an outspoken critic of BLS and its strategy to information assortment up to now.
Antoni’s nomination comes after Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer earlier this month after the BLS’ month-to-month jobs report confirmed disappointing numbers for July and sharply revised down employment development in May and June.
Trump accused McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden to the function of commissioner in 2023 and confirmed by a bipartisan Senate vote, of manipulating the info for “political purposes.”
“Last weeks Job’s Report was RIGGED,” Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social final week. “Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!!”
McEntarfer’s firing was met with backlash from many economists who argued that the transfer may injury the bureau’s credibility.
William Beach, a former Trump-nominated BLS commissioner, condemned the choice to fireplace McEntarfer.
“I don’t think there’s any grounds at all for this, for this firing, and it really hurts the statistical system,” Beach mentioned on NCS earlier this month earlier than Antoni was appointed. “Suppose that they get a new commissioner … And they do a bad number. Well, everybody’s going to think, ‘well, it’s not as bad as it probably really is,’ because they’re going to suspect political influence. So, this is damaging.”
The BLS is a nonpartisan company whose information underpins key selections throughout the private and non-private sectors. Its reviews affect every little thing from Social Security funds to company hiring and layoff plans, shaping how policymakers and companies gauge the well being of the US financial system.
Concerns over the bureau’s information accuracy had surfaced even earlier than McEntarfer’s firing, with some economists warning that Trump administration funds cuts, layoffs and hiring freezes may undermine its reliability.
Earlier this 12 months, the BLS posted a discover saying it had suspended information assortment fully in three cities. Last month, the company said it had additional in the reduction of on the info it was gathering from the remainder of the nation by roughly 15%.
In July, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was requested concerning the cuts.
“The government data is really the gold standard in data,” he mentioned. “We need it to be good and to be able to rely on it.”