US President Donald Trump has fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs data was released, the BBC reported.
According to Trump, Erica McEntire, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), "manipulated" the jobs data "to make Republicans and me look bad". The agency released data showing that US employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, far below the 109,000 new jobs forecast. Additionally, employment growth in May and June was down, with 25,000 fewer jobs than previously thought.
US stock markets plunged after the White House's move, with some accusing Trump of destroying public trust by politicizing the data.
The president defended his decision, saying her departure was necessary to ensure there were "people we can trust" in those positions.
"Why should anyone trust numbers?" he asked reporters at the White House. "I believe the numbers were fake, just like they were before the election, and there were other times - so you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what I did? The right thing," Donald Trump added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the president was a "bad leader" who "shot the messenger" because of weak statistics.
However, the US president insisted: "The economy is booming under "Trump"."
Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, commented that the labor market is deteriorating rapidly" due to the uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's tariffs, who, however, dismissed concerns about his tariff plans, which he said would boost US manufacturing and rebalance global trade.
Regarding the decision to fire McEntire, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers pointed out that firing the head of a key government agency because the president did not like the data they reported, which came from surveys using long-established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democracies.
For his part, McEntire described his time at the agency as an honor and indicated that her work was "vital".
The head of the Department of Labor, which runs the BLS, wrote on social media that the agency's deputy commissioner, William Wiatrowski, would take over the role while the search for a replacement was underway.