President Trump on Sunday accused the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of inflating job numbers to an “all-time high” prior to the U.S. presidential election, just days after announcing her firing.
“Head of the Bureau of of[sic] Labor Statistics did the same thing just before the Presidential Election, when she lifted the numbers for jobs to an all time high,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social account Sunday afternoon. “I then won the Election, anyway, and she readjusted the numbers downward, calling it a mistake, of almost one million jobs.”
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In the post, the President also alleged that the “miscalculations” of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer were the most significant in more than half a century.
“A SCAM!” Trump continued. “She did it again, with another massive “correction,” and got FIRED! She had the biggest miscalculations in over 50 years.”
The post follows just days after Trump lashed out at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and said he would fire McEntarfer after the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in July and large downward revisions were made in the prior two months — suggesting the economy and labor market are weaker than previously believed.
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Trump similarly accused McEntarfer of falsifying job numbers prior to the U.S. presidential election.
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday.
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Earlier Sunday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett backed Trump’s decision to fire McEntarfer, citing an alleged “partisan pattern” in U.S. job data reporting.
The BLS reported on Friday that 74,000 jobs were added in July, well below the 110,000 estimate of economists polled by LSEG. The report also revised job growth in May and June downward. May’s gains were pared back by 125,000 to just 19,000 jobs created, while the June figures were revised down by 133,000 to just 14,000 jobs added that month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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