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Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday nominated economist E.J. Antoni as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just days after he fired Erika McEntarfer.
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump said in a post on Truth.Social.
Antoni is the chief economist at conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. He has constantly criticized the BLS, and has expressed support for Trump’s America-first agenda.
Trump had fired McEntarfer on August 1, citing accusations of manipulating labor data, but had provided no evidence to support his claims.
McEntarfer’s firing came at the heels of a dismal nonfarm payrolls report for July, while readings for the past two months were also revised lower. The print appeared to outline some weakness in the labor market as Trump kept up his trade tariff agenda.
McEntarfer’s firing had ramped up some uncertainty over the future credibility of U.S. economic data, especially amid Trump’s allegations that data was being manipulated to serve a political agenda.
Still, the weak payrolls print did ramp up expectations for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September, which aligns with Trump’s demands.