Trump doubles down on sacking of Labour statistics chief
發佈日期: 2025-08-04 22:00
TVB News
U.S. President Donald Trump was once again forced to justify his decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS.
Trump last week sacked Erika McEntarfer after BLS's report of net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported.
Trump accused McEntarfer of manipulating the numbers and noted that she was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
"We're seeing phenomenal numbers in terms of the business we do with other countries and the business we do within our own country," said Trump. "I mean, really phenomenal numbers. We'll be announcing a new statistician sometime over the next three, four days. We had no confidence, I mean, the numbers were ridiculous, which she announced, but that was just one negative number. All the numbers seem to be great."
He continued: "And if you remember, just before the election, this woman came out with these phenomenal numbers on Biden's economy, phenomenal numbers. And then right after the election, they announced that those numbers were wrong. And that's what they did the other day. So it's a scam in my opinion."
Trump also posted on social media, saying McEntarfer pushed U.S. employment data to a historic high during Biden's time but when he won the election, the number of jobs was drastically reduced by nearly a million because of an error.
He said she is doing it again, describing it as the biggest calculation error in 50 years.
McEntarfer has been BLS director since January last year after being appointed by Biden.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, backed Trump's decision to fire the BLS chief.
Hassett said the BLS revisions were conclusive evidence of manipulation of employment data, and Trump needed a director who would produce data that is more transparent and reliable.
Several former BLS directors criticised Trump's decision, saying it would undermine trust within the department and called on Congress to launch an investigation.
Former BLS commissioner William Beach said it was impossible for a director to manipulate the data and such revisions are done every year.
Beach said he himself revised half a million jobs during Trump's first term as president.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said large-scale revisions could affect public trust and the government must explore ways to improve data quality.
