September 5, 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics workers rally against Trump attacks on jobs data integrity
Staff report: BLS workers decry political attacks on data
🔐Ethics💰Economy👷Labor
Federal employees from the Bureau of Labor Statistics held a rally on Sept. 5, 2025.
The rally took place outside the Labor Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Current and former BLS staff, union representatives, and career economists spoke in defense of data integrity.
The President fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1, 2025.
Officials said the firing followed public disputes over the administration's characterization of jobs data.
McEntarfer is a career economist who led the agency's statistical programs.
The removal prompted public criticism from economists and former officials about political interference.
The BLS reported that payrolls rose by 22,000 in Aug. 2025.
The report was released on Sept. 5, 2025, by the BLS' monthly Employment Situation.
Economists had forecast larger gains, prompting scrutiny and public debate.
The BLS said it will publish routine revisions to prior months, a standard statistical practice.
🔐Ethics💰Economy👷Labor
Test Your Knowledge
10
Q1
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said "good data helps not just the Fed, but also helps the government and the private sector." What happens when presidents politicize employment statistics?
Q2
NPR agreed not to name the BLS employees behind the statement because they "fear reprisal from the Trump administration." How does this journalistic decision affect press freedom under authoritarian pressure?
Q3
Trump called BLS data revisions "a major mistake." But the BLS revises the prior two months' job totals in every monthly report as more employer responses arrive. The August 2025 report actually revised July upward by 6,000 jobs. Is Trump's claim accurate?
Q4
BLS workers emphasized that they "publish sources, publish methods, and data revisions follow a set schedule," demonstrating their work follows transparent, established procedures rather than political manipulation.
Q5
Trump nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to replace the fired BLS commissioner, but withdrew the nomination on Sept. 30, 2025 after bipartisan Senate opposition. What does the failed nomination reveal about institutional resistance to data manipulation?
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Donald Trump
President of the United States
Erika McEntarfer
Former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner
William Wiatrowski
Senior Bureau of Labor Statistics official