Trump defends BLS Chief shooting in a tense CNBC exchange
Trump fired BLS commissioner Erica Mantelfer, causing a tense exchange with CNBC’s Joe Kernen on “Squawk Box” over the integrity of employment data.
EJ Antoni, an economist with the Conservative Heritage Foundation, is elected President Donald Trump, who heads the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after firing his former chief following a disappointing employment report.
“EJ ensures that the numbers released are honest and accurate,” Trump said in a social media post. “I know EJ Antoni will do an incredible job in this new role.”
Trump fired U.S. Labor Statistics Commissioner Erica Mantelfer earlier this month, blaming her for no evidence to manipulate “political purpose” data after the Labor Bureau reported in July that the US had unfortunately added 73,000 jobs.
The firing raised concerns about the future accuracy and completeness of the number of jobs in the country.
Former BLS commissioner William Beach, who was appointed Trump for his first term as president and worked for the Heritage Foundation, said that Mentarfer’s termination was “damage” and that he “questioning political impact” on employment data.
“I don’t think there’s any basis for this shooting, and it’s really hurting the statistical system. It’s undermining the reliability of the BLS,” Beach said.
The Senate confirmed Mantelfer, the appointment of former President Joe Biden, in January 2024. Labor economist McEntarfer worked for 20 years for the federal government, including previous stints at the US Census Bureau and the Treasury Department.
Antoni criticized how BLS collects Jobs Numbers, saying in an August 4 discussion on C-Span that there are “severe issues with the data.” He pointed to downward revisions to employment data over the past few months, claiming that “the numbers are clearly problematic.”
Beach noted that BLS collects employment data through the survey and that not all respondents submit it on time. He said that the early BLS monthly job reports showed that before the research was revised, it was more accurate than they were 30 years ago.
In a social media post, Trump announced Antoni’s nomination, saying, “Our economy is booming.” However, recent BLS reports show a slowdown in the economy.
The July report revised its salary profits for May and June at 258,000. That added 19,000 in May, and 14,000 in June. This is the weakest performance since the country rose from the Covid-19 recession in December 2020.
Contributions: Joey Garrison and Paul Davidson, USA Today
