Trump fires unemployment figures compiler after poor data

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the dismissal of economist Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which compiles unemployment statistics, after her latest report showed poor job creation figures.

The Republican leader said he had just learned that those figures were in the hands of a nominee of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and accused McEntarfer of having falsified the statistics last year to try to boost former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the previous presidential elections.

"We need accurate numbers," Trump said on his Truth Social network, justifying his request to fire the economist.

According to her, McEntarfer will be replaced by someone "much more competent and qualified."

His message comes on the same day that the BLS reported that unemployment rose by one-tenth of a percentage point in the U.S. in July to 4.2%, a month in which some 73,000 new jobs were created.

Job creation fell short of the approximately 110,000 jobs estimated by analysts and was below the figures recorded in previous months.

Trump emphasized that such an important statistic "cannot be manipulated for political reasons" and stressed that the country's economy is "flourishing" under his leadership.

It wasn't his only threat of the day. This Friday, he again attacked Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell, calling him a "stubborn idiot" and warning that if he continues to fail to "substantially" lower interest rates, the Fed's board should "take control" to achieve it.

In his message in Truth against McEntarfer, the president considered that Powell should also be removed.

The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee held its fifth meeting of the year this week and, despite pressure from Republicans, left rates unchanged in their 4.25% to 4.5% range.