BUSINESS • 7 MIN READ
Trump says the Bureau of Labor Statistics orchestrated a ‘scam.’ Here’s how the jobs report really works

By David Goldman
UPDATED 4 HR AGO
PUBLISHED AUG 4, 2025, 1:08 AM ET


US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists.

President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the massive revisions to the latest jobs report constituted a “scam,” accusing one of the top overseers of government statistics of cooking the books in a vendetta against his presidency.

“In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” Trump said in a message on Truth Social Friday. … As a result, he fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump, in a message posted to Truth Social Sunday, incorrectly claimed McEntarfer “had the biggest miscalculations in over 50 years.” In fact, the revisions the BLS made to recent jobs reports were neither historic nor evidence of corruption.

What is the BLS?

Established in 1884, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is an independently operated body within the US Department of Labor. The Labor Secretary, a member of the president’s cabinet, has oversight of the BLS, but it is run by a Senate-appointed commissioner.

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