When the person in charge of America’s most important economic data gets fired the same day that data looks bad for the president, it tends to raise some questions. Erika McEntarfer, the 16th Commissioner of Labor Statistics, is now making those questions very loud and very public.
McEntarfer was dismissed on August 1, 2025, just hours after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a July jobs report showing a slowing labor market and significant downward revisions to previous months. President Trump took to Truth Social to call the data “RIGGED,” alleging the numbers were politically motivated to harm Republicans. McEntarfer, who had been confirmed by the Senate with an overwhelming 86-8 vote in January 2024, lasted roughly 18 months in the role.
The $20 billion cost of killing the messenger
A 2026 paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that McEntarfer’s dismissal generated approximately $20 billion in economic costs. Not from the firing itself, obviously, but from the wave of policy uncertainty that followed. Investors, businesses, and consumers all started second-guessing the numbers they had previously taken at face value.
McEntarfer has since taken to the speaking circuit, comparing BLS data to “live traffic updates.” BLS releases, from nonfarm payrolls to the Consumer Price Index, are the navigation system for the entire US economy. The Federal Reserve uses them to set interest rates. Treasury markets price bonds off them.
