Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s firing of the chief labor statistician was criticized by her predecessor, who called it an unfounded move that will undermine confidence in a key data set on the US economy.
This is damaging,” William Beach, whom Trump picked in his first term to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
Trump on Friday fired Erika McEntarfer hours after labor market data showed weak jobs growth based in part on steep downward revisions for May and June. The move by Trump, who claimed the latest monthly report was “phony,” prompted an outcry from economists and lawmakers.
“I don’t know that there’s any grounds at all for this firing,” said Beach, whom McEntarfer replaced in January 2024. “And it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility in BLS.”
Studies indicate that the agency’s data is more accurate than 20 or 30 years ago, including any revisions of the initial data, Beach said. Even so, he said he’ll trust future BLS data because people working for the agency are “some of the most loyal Americans you can imagine,” making the bureau “the finest statistical agency in the entire world.”
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, speaking Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, urged the US government to improve its data collection to avoid revisions that engender distrust.
We watch what consumers really do. We watch what businesses really do,” Moynihan said, while not addressing the politics of the firing. “They can get this data, I think, other ways, and I think that’s where the focus would be.”
He noted the revision for May and June data, while not unusual, was one of the largest in seven years. “That creates doubt around it,” he said. “Let’s spend some money. Let’s bring the information together. Let’s find where else in the government money is reported.”
McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan 86-8 vote. Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, voted to approve her nomination.
This woman has been wrong for what, 18 months in a row?
Why should she keep her job again?
There is nothing about Trump's history that suggests he understands economics, yet, somehow people that voted for him thought he was the best person for the economy. Ignoring his history of bankruptcy and failed start ups.
In June 2024, the World Bank wrote:
“There are, of course, notable bright spots in the global economy. The U.S. economy, in particular, has shown impressive resilience. Growth has remained buoyant in the teeth of the fiercest monetary policy tightening in four decades. U.S. dynamism, in fact, is one reason the global economy enjoys some upside potential over the next two years.”
Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist, said at the time that “US growth is exceptional.”
Just the facts bitches.
There have already been more layoffs in 2025 than in the entire year of 2024.
-Only 106,000 jobs were created over the last three months. 2024 averaged 186,000 every month.
-GDP growth averaged 1.25% for the first half of 2025, compared to the 2024 average of 2.8%.
Vance voted to confirm her
As I pointed out originally. This is just a bad diversion Trumpnis using to cover bad news he doesn’t like. Childish