President Donald Trump has accused Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), of rigging jobs numbers to make Republicans and himself appear bad. In a statement on Truth Social, Trump claimed that McEntarfer had made “the biggest miscalculations in over 50 years.” However, experts say the revisions made to recent jobs reports were neither historic nor evidence of corruption.
The BLS is an independently operated body within the US Department of Labor, responsible for collecting data on key economic concerns and producing critical reports. The agency’s jobs report, released every month, provides valuable insights into employment trends and inflation.
Revisions to the jobs report are common due to low survey responses from respondents and seasonal adjustments. While some revisions may be larger than usual, they do not necessarily indicate corruption or manipulation of data.
In fact, recent revisions have been smaller than those during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when job numbers were highly volatile. The BLS’ data has proven to be a reliable source for businesses, government organizations, and economists alike.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell praised the importance of strong data, saying it helps guide monetary policy and rate-setting. Other organizations, such as the National Bureau of Economic Research, rely on the BLS data to determine recession trajectories and economic indexes.
While some may dispute the accuracy of the BLS report, experts argue that alternatives have proven limited in capturing government hiring and overall job trends. The BLS’ household survey is considered volatile due to its smaller sample size, but the business and government employment survey is widely regarded as a gold standard.
The BLS has consistently produced reliable data, earning recognition from former Commissioner William Beach as the “finest statistical agency in the entire world.” Trump’s attack on McEntarfer and the BLS may undermine this trust over time.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/04/business/bureau-of-labor-statistics-jobs-report-explainer-hnk