Concerns are growing regarding the credibility of U.S. economic indicators following President Donald Trump's dismissal of the Director General of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as key economic advisors from the White House have stepped forward to defend Trump's decision.
According to Reuters on the 3rd (local time), Jamieson Greer, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), noted in an interview with CBS that job number revisions have always occurred, stating, 'Sometimes you can see these revisions happening in very extreme ways.'
Kevin Hassett, Chairperson of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), also said in a Fox News interview the same day that 'the President's new leadership request is valid,' and added, 'What we need is someone with a new perspective to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, someone who can fix this issue.' He expressed 'great concern' over the 258,000 jobs reduction in May and June compared to the earlier report released by the Bureau.
On the 1st, the BLS revised down the number of jobs added in May (excluding agriculture) from the initial 144,000 to 19,000, and the job increase in June from 147,000 to 14,000. The forecast for job growth in July, originally expected to be 110,000, was also lowered to 73,000.
The BLS did not disclose specific reasons for the revisions but explained that it was due to 'receiving additional reports from corporations and government agencies or monthly revisions due to seasonal factor recalculations.'
Following the release of the statistics, President Trump dismissed the Director General of the BLS. He stated on social media (SNS), 'I just found out that Erica McEntaffer, the Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by Joe Biden (the former president) and manipulated job numbers to increase the likelihood of Kamala (Harris, the former vice president) winning before the election, is producing the job numbers.'
Criticism poured in following the dismissal of the BLS Director General. Brian Moynihan, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of America, said, 'Massive revisions to economic indicators can undermine public trust,' urging that 'the government needs to find ways to improve data quality.'