WASHINGTON (Reuters)-US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will appoint economist EJ Antoni as the new Commissioner of the Labor Statistics Department (BLS), ten days after dismissing the previous statistical boss after a weak US labor market report, accusing it, without proof, of manipulating numbers.
Antoni is currently the chief economist of the influential US conservative Tank Heritage Foundation.
“Our economy is expanding, and EJ will ensure that the disclosed numbers are honest and accurate,” Trump said on the social network Truth Social.
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Antoni, who should be confirmed by the Senate, is chosen to run an agency that had a team of 2,300 employees in September 2024 and has been undergoing a thorough examination due to the quality of the data it produces. Its monthly figures on the situation of the US labor market and inflation are consumed by a global audience of economists, investors, business leaders, public policy and consumer formulators, and its dissemination routinely has a visible and real -time effect on stock markets, titles and coins worldwide.
Trump increased concerns about the reliability of BLS and other economic data from the federal government by dismissing Erika McNTAFER from the position of BLS commissioner on August 1. The resignation occurred hours after the agency released a much weaker job growth than expected for July and issuing a significant review of employment for May and June, reducing the estimated number of jobs created in almost 260,000.
By announcing the resignation, Trump accused McNTEFER-appointed by former President Joe Biden-to manipulate employment data for political purposes. There is no evidence that the statement is true.
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He promised to replace her “with someone much more competent and qualified.”
Antoni, who has a doctorate in economics, was previously economist at Texas Public Policy Foundation and taught courses on work, money and banks, according to Heritage Foundation.
BLS, like other government agencies, faced a freezing of Trump -imposed hires on its return to the White House in January and will probably see a wave of layoffs in late summer as employees who opted for a resignation program formally leave government employment.
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Reuters survey conducted last month with 100 economists and public policy experts found that the vast majority had at least some concern about the erosion of the quality of US economic statistics.
