President Trump’s nominee for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), E.J. Antoni, is facing calls from labor and economy experts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to focus on improving data collection methods rather than making political changes to how economic data is reported.
Sean Higgins, a research fellow at CEI, stated: “President Trump’s pick to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, has an opportunity to modernize and re-think the agency’s methods for determining jobs numbers, and he should pursue it. There is no reason to believe that the BLS’s numbers have been politicized as the president has claimed, but the increasingly sharp revisions of jobs numbers in recent years indicate that the BLS’s traditional survey methods have become outdated as the national economy has changed.”
Higgins pointed out that declining response rates to job surveys and new types of employment created by technology—such as rideshare drivers and social media influencers—have made it harder for BLS data to fully capture changes in the workforce. He said: “The BLS has acknowledged that the response rate to its job surveys has fallen off sharply. Meanwhile, technological innovations have created new categories of jobs like rideshare drivers and social media influencers, sectors where it is unclear how, or even if, the BLS data accounts for them. The business community needs reliable information from the bureau to plan for the future. Antoni should commit to seeking improved methods to track changes in the economy and present that data truthfully, regardless of its political impact.”
Ryan Young, a senior economist at CEI, expressed concern about possible politicization: “The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the rare government agency that deserves its apolitical reputation. This may be about to change.”
Young noted that budget cuts have forced BLS to rely more on statistical techniques such as imputation when collecting data. For example, July’s Consumer Price Index report used imputation for 35 percent of its figures compared with just 10 percent when President Trump first took office.
He explained: “BLS’s methods need updating, and DOGE-related staffing cuts have forced it to increasingly rely on statistical techniques like imputation. For example, July’s CPI report relies 35 percent on imputation, compared to just 10 percent when President Trump took office in January.”
While these staffing shortages can affect accuracy, Young argued they do not introduce bias: “While staffing shortages can affect BLS data’s accuracy, it does not make the data biased. BLS errors do not systematically point in one political direction or the other.”
Young also criticized Trump’s decision to remove former administrator Erika McEntarfer after an unfavorable jobs report: “Trump’s decision to fire previous BLS administrator Erika McEntarfer after a lackluster jobs report smacks of politics. Trump’s choice to replace her, EJ Antoni of the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation, has written about wanting to stop issuing monthly employment reports, citing accuracy concerns. Pausing data releases could cast the president’s trade and industrial policy agenda in a bad light, as people would suspect bad motives, regardless of the real numbers.”
He drew comparisons with other countries where government interference with economic statistics damaged public trust: “Trump risks following in the footsteps of countries like China, which stopped public reporting on youth unemployment after it exceeded 21 percent in 2023. It resumed publishing it the next year, reporting a lower number that may or may not be accurate. Other countries such as Turkey, Peronist-era Argentina, and other countries with economic problems have also fired statistical agency heads rather than pursue better policies.”
Both Higgins and Young emphasized that reliable data is necessary for policymakers and businesses alike: “Accurate, trustworthy data is essential for both policymakers and businesses to make sound decisions. BLS should not only have the resources it needs to update its methodology and collect thorough data, it must also be above politics, both in perception and reality.”
