The July 2025 unemployment report, released on August 1st, did not meet expectations. Instead of addressing the deficiencies by his own misguided policies, the President of the United States reacted in predictable fashion. He fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, Commissioner of Labor Statistics, because he didn’t like the report, and accused the economist of rigging the data, whose appointment was approved by a Senate vote of 86-8. A bipartisan group, friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which includes former labor commissioners, economists, and statisticians, strongly supported her confirmation. Even Trump acolytes like JD Vance (Ohio) and Marco Rubio (Florida) supported her confirmation. Rabid Trumpies like Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rick Scott (Florida) were among those opposing her nomination, but their numbers were few.
There has been widespread protest to Dr. McEntarfer’s firing, because it was nothing more than an autocratic tantrum from a misguided so-called “leader” whose sole purpose seems to be to create chaos and destroy our infrastructure including, in the words of Heidi Shierholz, “one of the most respected statistical agencies in the world, known for its methodological rigor, independence, and transparency.” The President seems unwilling or unable to understand the process of producing the monthly Employment Situation report, which many (myself included) look forward to perusing on the first Friday of each month. Data addicts eagerly examine the report looking for fluctuations and, yes, adjustments in the data because they very often happen.
Why? The data comes from businesses and other establishments (like government agencies), large and small. Many report data promptly, mostly because they have the apparatus to do so. Smaller businesses, a large part of our economy, may report on a delayed basis, hence the adjustments. Further, the BLS workforce of about 2300 people is eight percent lower than it was in 2010. Moving forward, the 2026 budget will be lower by another eight percent. Even with the cuts, BLS proceeds with precision and accuracy, something that this President has little value for. If he even a modicum of respect for the agency, it would not have received cuts – it’s already lean and mean. Further, he would not have fired a BLS commissioner whose work has been exemplary.
The August 1st firing of the BLS Commissioner diverted attention from the actual contents of the report. In a tantrum using loaded words like “rigged,” our feckless leader has undermined confidence in the fundamentals of our economy. EPI’s Shierholz states, “The economy runs on reliable data. The Federal Reserve uses the data to set interest rates. State and local governments use them to plan budgets. If policymakers and the public can’t trust the data – or suspect the data is being manipulated – confidence collapses and reasonable economic decision making becomes impossible.” Shierholz likened using faulty data to driving a car blindfolded. Unfortunately, this administration, like bulls in a China closet, is managing the economy blindfolded, as with tariffs. Let the chips fall where they may. The citizens feel the pinch of rising prices and federal layoffs, and that’s the price of electing incompetence.
The President’s tantrum overshadows the losses that Black women experience from this report. Language in the report says that most of the indicators “changed little,” whether we are addressing the unemployment rate, the employment population ratio or the labor force participation rate. The summary does note that the employment population ratio has dropped by four tenths of a percent over the last year. But the summary does not highlight the fact that only Black women saw their employment population ratio (or the percentage of the population with jobs), drop significantly. While most groups (white men, white women, Black men) saw drops of a tenth of a percentage point, Black women’s employment population ratio dropped from 59.5 percent to 56.7 percent, or 2.8 percent. That’s an extremely concerning drop and it is one that has not been highlighted. Why? Too much attention has been placed on the toxic tantrum, and not enough on a population that is the backbone of the Black community. And it is possible that future reports will further deemphasize this significant change.
When looking at labor market data, most labor economists suggest that month-to-month fluctuations should be taken contextually, considering the possibility of adjustment. But these employment population ratio changes are over the year from July 2024 through July 2025.
We need to read the fine print and forget about the tantrums. We must pay attention to the appointment of the next Commissioner of Labor Statistics. If the new commissioner is a sycophantic loyalist, like Attorney General Pam Bondi, we might look forward to only seeing data that this President approves of. Driving a car blindfolded, crashing everywhere, with data on Black women as collateral damage.
