President Trump said Friday directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following a dismal jobs report he blamed squarely on the appointee of former President Biden.
Trump said on Truth Social that the commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, had “faked the Jobs Numbers” before the 2024 election in order to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris’s White House bid.
An administration official later confirmed the firing.
He cited labor statistics revisions during the Biden administration that boosted job numbers ahead of the election. The jobs report released Friday showed a significant downturn during Trump’s administration in May and June, indicating the U.S. added 258,000 fewer jobs over those months than had initially been reported.
“No one can be that wrong?” Trump said. “We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”
McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 as the 16th commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Department of Labor.
This story was updated at 3:22 p.m.
