Trump’s new pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics casually floated ending its monthly jobs reports, one of the most closely watched economic indicators that businesses and policymakers rely on, in an interview released Tuesday.
The critical economic indicator came under fire recently after the previous BLS commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, issued a report earlier this month showing that the U.S. saw weaker-than-expected job growth in July, as well as downward revisions of job gains in May and June.
Trump did not like those numbers, and called them a “scam.” Within days, he fired McEntarfer and then later nominated E.J. Antoni, The Heritage Foundation’s chief economist — who helped write Project 2025 — to serve in her place.