Trump to Appoint New Labor Statistics Chief This Week

U.S. President Donald Trump says he will appoint an “exceptional replacement” for the country’s top labor statistician, days after ordering the removal of Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following the release of a disappointing jobs report.

This was revealed in a series of comments Trump made on his Truth Social platform and during media interactions on Sunday and Monday. Without offering evidence, Trump insisted that Friday’s employment figures were “rigged” to downplay the strength of his administration’s economic performance.

“We’ll be announcing a new (labor) statistician some time over the next three-four days,” he told reporters Sunday.

“I will pick an exceptional replacement,” he added on Monday.

The jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent. Sharp downward revisions also hit figures from previous months: May’s job creation was revised from 144,000 to just 19,000, and June’s from 147,000 to a mere 14,000 — marking the weakest stretch of hiring since the pandemic.

Just hours after the data was made public, Trump directed that McEntarfer be dismissed.

“We had no confidence. I mean the numbers were ridiculous,” he told reporters. He further claimed McEntarfer had produced “phenomenal” figures under President Joe Biden before the 2024 election, suggesting bias in her reporting.

The move has sparked strong backlash from economists and professional bodies. William Beach, a former commissioner of labor statistics, described Trump’s decision as setting a “dangerous precedent.” The National Association for Business Economics also condemned McEntarfer’s removal, arguing that large data revisions are “not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies.”

Despite the controversy, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett backed the firing in an NBC News interview, stating: “The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers they are more transparent and more reliable.”

Hassett acknowledged the jobs market was cooling, but claimed the figures did not yet reflect the benefits of Trump’s new tax and spending legislation, passed in July. Meanwhile, businesses continue to tread cautiously, with hiring and investment affected by the administration’s sweeping tariff changes.

Erika McEntarfer, a labor economist, was confirmed to her role in January 2024.

Trump is also expected to announce a replacement for Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, who stepped down early, effective Friday. Her departure gives Trump another opportunity to reshape key economic institutions.

Reacting to the developments, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil emphasized the need to shield statistical bodies and central banks from political interference. “It is right that independent institutions remain independent and that politics do not interfere with them,” he said.