Trump urgently downloads the U.S. Economic Statistics Chief

US President Donald Trump has urgently fired the director of the Labour Statistics Bureau, just hours after an official report on employment sparked panic in markets and challenged his economic initiative.

In a post on social networks, Trump, without presenting evidence, accused Commissioner Erica McEntarfer of manipulating employment data for political reasons. The surprise decision has shocked Wall Street and raised concerns about direct intervention of the White House in publishing official statistics.

In her response, McEntarfer called the period at the helm of the Labour Statistics Bureau (BLS) as the greatest “of life” and thanked civil servants for the “service to this nation”.

This development occurred at a moment when global markets showed signs of shaking, as Trump decided to push ahead with the significant increase in tariffs on goods from different parts of the world. Numerous economic forecasts warn that tariffs will harm the American economy.

In the U.S., major stock market indicators dropped significantly .&P 500 in a 1.6% drop, following massive sales that started earlier on European and Asian markets.

Oxford Economics lead economist Ryan Sweet named McEntarfer's dismissal as a disturbing development, stressing that accurate economic data is essential to businesses.

This is a movement in the worst possible direction. If the credibility of the data starts to be questioned, the consequences will be great,” he said.

Trump has dismissed criticism of his tariffs, saying they would empower domestic production and restore balance in global trade. But recent data including a poor employment report are challenging this conjecture.

BLS reported that only 73,000 jobs have been added in July, while figures for May and June have been significantly revised in decline, with about 250,000 jobs less than initially thought.

Trump used this review as a reason to notify McEntarfer's dismissal. We need accurate employment numbers. I have instructed my team to dismiss this man named political man in Biden, MENGHATHER,” he wrote.

The Labor Department, which oversees BLS, confirmed that Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will take the lead temporarily, until finding a replacement.

McEntarfer had over 20 years of public service experience and was appointed to the helm of BLS in 2023, with almost unanimous confirmation from the Senate.

Trump defended the dismissal decision, saying that it takes people “to trust” in such positions. “Why should we trust figures?

I believe the figures were fake, just like before elections and on other occasions so I fired him. And I did the right thing,” he told reporters.

Markets Shocked by tariffs

The impact on data occurred as Trump radically changed trade policy, setting tariffs of 10% to 50% for goods from different countries. When he announced similar measures in April, US stock exchanges dropped over 10% in a week.

Although some of the current measures are slower than the initial plans, they have brought the average fee rate from less than 2.5% at the beginning of the year to about 17%.

Markets reacted negatively: S&P 500 dropped by 1.6%, Dow with 1.2% and Nasdaq with 2.2%. In Europe, France's CAC 40 dropped 2.9%, Germany's DAX 2.6%, while Britain's FTSE 0.7%. In Asia, the main indicators also suffered decline.

Following the employment report, Trump again attacked the head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who accused him of acting very slowly in lowering interest rates. On Friday, Monetary Policy Committee member Adriana Cugler announced his resignation, paving the way for Trump to appoint another member.