President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Heritage Foundation chief economist E.J. Antoni, suggested suspending the agency’s monthly jobs reports, arguing they are unreliable. Antoni told Fox Business the BLS should instead publish only quarterly data until its methodology is updated.
Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1 after July’s jobs report showed just 73,000 jobs gained and sharply revised May and June figures downward. Without evidence, Trump claimed the numbers were “rigged” to embarrass him. Economists note monthly reports regularly include revisions—positive or negative—as more data arrives.
Antoni blamed low survey response rates since COVID-19 for inaccuracies and said statistical models must be revised. He has previously called BLS data collection “outdated” and urged a full overhaul.
The nomination drew praise from Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, who called Antoni “a fearless truth-teller.” Critics, including former Trump-appointed BLS Commissioner William Beach, defended the agency’s accuracy and called McEntarfer’s firing “groundless.”
If confirmed, Antoni would oversee the nation’s primary economic data collection, which informs policy, markets, and Federal Reserve decisions.
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