White House Doubles Down on Accusations of BLS Data Being Falsified

On September 5, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a downward revision of the jobs report. Ahead of the release of the jobs report, the Friends of BLS coalition released a Q&A about the job report, which details how the report is estimated and revised in a transparent and objective manner. However, the Administration published the article, BLS Revisions Show President Trump Was Right — Again, and again baselessly claimed that the jobs report was falsified. As a reminder, the Trump Administration fired Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the last jobs report was released with similar findings (see previous COSSA coverage). On September 11, the Friends of BLS released a statement in support of the BLS mission and leadership, highlighting the burden of budget cuts and reductions in force (RIFs) on the agency.

Trump’s new nominee for BLS Commissioner, E.J. Antoni, has yet to be scheduled for his confirmation hearing. Follow COSSA’s continued coverage on BLS here.