President Donald Trump is once again attacking the credibility of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), claiming without evidence that the agency’s recently released jobs numbers were rigged. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Trump repeated his allegation, saying the data was “antiquated” and “very political.”
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Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs numbers were “rigged,” framing the issue as political rather than methodological.
CNBC host Joe Kernen pushed back, pressing Trump for proof and warning that such accusations undermine public trust in economic data.
The BLS operates as a nonpartisan agency with rigorous review processes, and while its job reports are often revised, they are widely respected as reliable indicators of the economy.
But in a rare pushback, co-anchor Joe Kernen challenged the president directly. “Rigged? Where do you get the notion that it’s rigged? Do you have any evidence there?” Kernen asked. Trump offered no proof, only repeating his belief that the system itself was outdated and very political.
Kernen pressed further: “These are statistical changes based on this antiquated system, and it’s just a big leap to go to rigged. And also, Mr. President, it makes anyone you pick is gonna be, the critics are gonna say he’s picking a guy that’s gonna give him, or the gal that’s giving him the numbers that he wants. So, it undermines confidence in the system to some extent.”
Trump’s criticism comes as he has fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom he has tied to former President Joe Biden’s administration. Yet his objections appear less about methodology and more about political affiliation.
How the Bureau of Labor Statistics Works
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the federal government’s independent statistical agency responsible for producing vital economic data, including the monthly jobs report. Its surveys rely on large-scale sampling from households and businesses. While the numbers are preliminary and often revised in subsequent months as more complete data becomes available, the process is apolitical by design.
Each report undergoes rigorous review before release. Career economists and statisticians at the agency, not political appointees, oversee the calculations and publish findings on a fixed schedule, regardless of the White House’s political needs. That consistency is what makes BLS data widely trusted by economists, Wall Street, and policymakers alike.
A Pattern of Attacking Unfavorable Data
This isn’t the first time Trump has cast doubt on government statistics. As president, he frequently dismissed negative polling or economic numbers as “fake” if they did not align with his preferred narrative. Critics note that such rhetoric undermines public trust in nonpartisan institutions.
Ironically, Trump also eliminated a working group early in his presidency that had been tasked with modernizing economic data collection. If his concern were genuinely about improving accuracy, economists argue, supporting such efforts would have been the logical step.
Instead, the President’s latest attack suggests a familiar pattern: when the numbers don’t fit his message, he labels them as rigged.