US President Donald Trump has nominated economist E.J. Antoni as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), just 10 days after firing the agency’s previous leader over what he claimed, without evidence, was manipulation of employment data.
Antoni, currently chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, has been a vocal critic of the BLS, the Labour Department’s statistical agency. The BLS publishes monthly reports on the state of the job market and inflation, data closely watched by economists, investors, policymakers and consumers worldwide. These figures routinely influence stock, bond and currency markets in real time.
“Our economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the numbers released are honest and accurate,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Last year, Antoni accused the Biden administration of distorting labour statistics, writing in the New York Post that “the Biden-Harris Labour Department seems to exist in the land of make-believe.” His remarks followed a BLS report that sharply revised down employment figures for April 2023 to March 2024.
Antoni contributed to “Project 2025”, a controversial conservative blueprint to overhaul the federal government, raising concerns among economists about his appointment. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US, warned: “The nominee will result in a surge in demand for private label data.”
Alex Jacquez, head of policy and advocacy at the Groundwork Collaborative, was more scathing, calling Antoni a “sycophant” and saying his selection was “a clear assault on independent analysis that will have far-reaching implications for the reliability of US economic data.”
Antoni must be confirmed by the Senate before taking office. If approved, he will inherit an agency under heightened scrutiny over declining data quality and survey participation rates.
Trump dismissed BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer on 1 August, hours after the agency reported weaker-than-expected July job growth and issued large downward revisions to its May and June employment figures. McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, was accused by Trump of manipulating the data for political purposes, an allegation for which there is no evidence. Announcing her removal, Trump vowed to replace her “with someone much more competent and qualified.”
Antoni, who holds a doctorate in economics, has previously worked at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and taught courses on labour economics, money and banking. However, Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University, questioned whether he fully understands the BLS’s methodology. “He does have the necessary economic credentials, but that doesn’t mean he understands how BLS puts together the data and how revisions are put together on a monthly basis. Some of the data that will be forthcoming will not be to President Trump’s liking — it will be interesting how he would explain that and how the president would react to that,” Sohn said.
The BLS’s nonfarm payrolls report offers a monthly snapshot of the US job market, including job creation, unemployment rates, labour force changes, average hourly earnings and weekly working hours. Its headline job creation estimates are revised twice to incorporate additional employer survey responses and seasonal adjustments, and undergo an annual benchmark review.
Similarly, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) provide a comprehensive view of US inflation, tracking costs for items ranging from eggs to auto insurance. Policymakers, including the Federal Reserve, rely heavily on these figures, with the CPI determining Social Security cost-of-living adjustments.
Years of underfunding, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, and the Trump White House’s push for deep spending cuts and public sector layoffs have hindered the BLS’s data collection. Some CPI categories in certain regions are now filled using imputation — estimating prices rather than directly collecting them. The proportion of imputed prices has more than tripled this year to 35 per cent.
“I can’t help but worry some deadlines are going to be missed and undetected biases or other errors are going to start creeping into some of these reports just because of the reduction in staff,” said Erica Groshen, who served as BLS commissioner from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and the early months of Trump’s first term.
Boluwatife Enome
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