Trump fires lead official on economic data as tariffs cause market drop

 


US President Donald Trump has fired the boss of one of America's most important economic institutions hours after weaker-than-expected jobs data stoked further alarm about his tariff policy.

On social media Trump claimed that Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), had "RIGGED" jobs figures "to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad".

The unprecedented move by the White House sparked accusations that Trump was politicising economic data.

The Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said the president was "a bad leader" who "shoots the messenger" for weak statistics.

US stock markets were rattled on Friday after Trump, a Republican, forged ahead with his plans to raise import tariffs on goods from countries around the world.

Figures were then released by BLS showing that employers in the US added just 73,000 jobs in July, far below forecasts of 109,000 new roles.

The agency also revised down employment growth in May and June, reporting 250,000 fewer jobs than previously thought. It was the largest downward revision in employment figures - apart from the Covid-era - since 1979.

It is not unusual for the BLS to amend jobs figures as more data comes to light, however. During Joe Biden's presidency, statistics for 12 months over 2023-4 were retroactively revised downward by 818,000 jobs.

Though this month's changes were much larger than usual, analysts said the updates were consistent with other data showing slowdown.

The president posted on Truth Social on Friday: "The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP.'"

But Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said the job figures were a "gamechanger", adding that "the labor market is deteriorating quickly" because of uncertainty caused by Trump's tariffs.

The president has dismissed concerns about his tariff plans, which he says will boost manufacturing in the US and rebalance global trade.

But data this week and a string of updates from companies on tariff costs have made those forecasts harder to ignore.

On the decision to sack McEntarfer, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said: "Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones."

Friends of BLS, a group whose members include two former commissioners of the agency, said: "When leaders of other nations have politicized economic data, it has destroyed public trust in all official statistics and in government science."

McEntarfer called her time as commissioner "the honour of my life", while describing the agency's work as "vital and important".


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