Heritage Foundation economist and Project 2025 contributor E.J. Antoni, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), suggested that the agency should hide jobs data as the economy worsens under Trump.
Antoni, who believes that a MAGA loyalist should be in charge of the data, made the comment in an interview with Fox News Digital that was released on Tuesday.
“How on earth are businesses supposed to plan — or how is the Fed supposed to conduct monetary policy — when they don’t know how many jobs are being added or lost in our economy?” Antoni said.
“Until it is corrected, the BLS should suspend issuing the monthly job reports but keep publishing the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data,” Antoni added.
The BLS publishes market-moving crucial data on employment and inflation.
“That would (be) a serious mistake in my estimation. It would only fuel critiques of a politicization of job market data and likely result in volatility across asset classes,” RSM US chief economist Joe Brusuelas told Axios about Antoni’s suggestion to suspend monthly jobs report. “One gets the sense that comments like that will cause US Senators to question his wisdom, qualifications and suitability for the job.”
The Fox interview was conducted on August 4, before Trump announced he was nominating the Project 2025 author to take over the independent agency.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST AND ACCURATE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday.
Earlier this month Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a brutal jobs report that showed the economy gained only 73,000 jobs in July and did far worse than previously reported in May and June.
He falsely accused McEntarfer of rigging the data “in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”
