Trump's accusations against the Bureau of Labor Statistics, claiming the agency falsified job numbers, are disputed by former commissioner William Beach. Beach explained the BLS commissioner has no control over the job data collection process and only sees finalized numbers shortly before publication. He indicated that the downward revisions in job data for May and June, which likely upset Trump, are typical as part of the survey process. Beach expressed that the firing of Commissioner McEntarfer lacks justification and damages the credibility of the BLS.
There's no way for that to happen. The commissioner doesn't do anything to collect the numbers. The commissioner doesn't see the numbers until Wednesday before they're published.
What I think really upset the president on Friday were the revisions to May and June, big revisions. But that's because, like every time we publish on Friday, there are revisions to the previous two months.
I don't think there's any grounds at all for this firing, and it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility in BLS. People may be disillusioned.
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