President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and said he will fire its labor statistics chief after the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in July and large downward revisions were made in the prior two months, which suggests the economy and labor market are weaker than previously believed.
The BLS reported on Friday that 74,000 jobs were added in July, well below the 110,000 estimate of economists polled by LSEG. The report also revised job growth in May and June downward. May's gains were pared back by 125,000 to just 19,000 jobs created, while the June figures were revised down by 133,000 to just 14,000 jobs added that month.
According to the BLS, the last time a revision was down more than 133,000 was in March 2021, when it was revised down by 146,000 one year into the COVID pandemic.
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Trump took to his Truth Social platform and wrote, "I was just informed that our Country's 'Jobs Numbers' are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfar, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records – No one can be that wrong?"
"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," Trump continued.
"Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes," the president wrote. "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the two prior months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative."
"The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP' despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting 'Kamala' elected – How did that work out? Jerome 'Too Late' Powell should also be put 'out to pasture.' Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
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In an ironic twist, McEntarfar was confirmed in the Senate in January 2024 by a vote of 86-8. One of those voting for her confirmation was then-Senator JD Vance.
The labor force participation rate was 62.2%, having changed little from a month ago – though it has declined by 0.5 percentage point in the last year.
The number of people considered to be long-term unemployed, defined as being jobless for 27 weeks or more, increased by 179,000 to 1.8 million. The long-term unemployed accounted for 24.9% of all unemployed people in July.
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Workers who were employed part-time for economic reasons changed little in July, coming in at 4.7 million. These workers would've preferred full-time jobs but were working part-time because their hours were reduced, or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
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