(Washington) Donald Trump broadcast on Friday the agency director who produces monthly employment figures, after a report revealed a slowdown in hires in July and a significant drop in May and June compared to the figures previously announced.
In a publication on his social networks, Trump said that the figures had been manipulated for political purposes. He said that Erika MCENTARFER, Director of the Labor Statistics Office (BSL), appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be dismissed.
“I asked my team to immediately dismiss this person appointed politically by Biden,” announced the president on Truth Social. She will be replaced by a much more competent and qualified person. »»
The tenant of the White House then wrote: “In my opinion, the employment figures published today were manipulated in order to give a bad image to the Republicans and to myself. »»
After her initial publication, the secretary at work, Lori Chavez-Deremer, said on X that Mme MCENTARFER no longer headed the work statistics office and that William Wiatrowski, assistant commissioner, would assume the interim.
“I support the president’s decision to replace the Commissioner of Biden and to ensure that the American people can trust the important and influential data of the BLS,” said Mr.me Chavez-DeRemer.
The Friday employment report showed that only 73,000 jobs were created last month and that 258,000 less jobs were created in May and June.
The report suggests that the economy has strongly weakened under the mandate of the Republican president, a tendency coherent with a slowdown in economic growth in the first half and an increase in inflation in June, which seems to reflect the pressures on the prices created by the customs duties of the Head of State.
“What is a bad leader doing when he receives bad news?” He shoots the messenger, “said the leader of Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, during a speech on Friday in New York.
Donald Trump sought to attack the institutions based on objective data to assess the economy, including the federal reserve and, now, the BSL. These measures are part of a larger mission aimed at placing all of the executive power-including independent agencies designed to objectively measure the well-being of the nation-under the control of the White House.
Mme MCentarfer was appointed by Biden in 2023 and became commissioner of the United States Labor Statistics Office in January 2024. The commissioners generally have a four-year term, but, as they are politically appointed, they can be dismissed. The commissioner is the only one appointed politically within the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants.
The Senate had confirmed Erika MCENTARFER in his post by 86 votes to 8, the vice-president JD VANCE being now among the voters.
Donald Trump mainly concentrated his anger on the revisions brought by the agency to previous job data. The job creations in May were revised downwards, from 125,000 to 19,000, and in June, they were reduced from 147,000 to 14,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were created. The unemployment rate increased slightly, from 4.1 % to 4.2 %, a level still low.
“Can no one be wrong at this point?” We need precise figures on employment, wrote Mr. Trump. She will be replaced by a much more competent and qualified person. Important figures like these must be fair and precise; They cannot be manipulated for political purposes. »»
The American president was not always suspicious of the monthly employment report and reacted with enthusiasm to the publication of the first figures in May, June 6, when it was initially announced that the economy had created 139,000 jobs.
“Excellent figures on employment, upright upright! Then exclaimed Trump on his social network.
This estimate was then revised downwards to 125,000 jobs, before the last revision brought it back to only 19,000.
The monthly employment report is one of the most monitored government economic data and can cause high fluctuations on the financial markets. This disappointing figure resulted in an approximately 1.5 % drop in American stock market indices on Friday.
If employment figures are often the subject of political manipulation, economists and investors of Wall Street – with millions of dollars at stake – have always considered the economic data of the United States government as exempt from any political manipulation.
