Key points
- Nonfarm payrolls rose by a smaller-than-expected 73,000 jobs last month: Labour Department
- Says unemployment rate edged up one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.2pc in July
- Trump calls official statistics fake, defends his decision to fire Commissioner Erika McEntarfer
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump said Friday he has ordered the firing of a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market, according to AFP.
In a post on social media, Trump – without evidence – accused the commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, of manipulating jobs figures for political reasons.
According to the BBC, the decision shocked Wall Street and raised alarm about White House interference in economic data.
“Vital and important”
In her response, McEntarfer called her time as commissioner “the honour of my life”, describing the agency’s work as “vital and important”. She thanked its civil servants for “their service to this nation”.
Surprisingly weak July hiring data released on Friday highlighted a fractious Federal Reserve debate over whether the central bank should have cut interest rates when it met this week, as it offered some support to those who’d favoured an easing in borrowing costs, Reuters reported.
Unemployment rate
The Labour Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by a smaller-than-expected 73,000 jobs last month, with big downward revisions to job growth in May and June. The unemployment rate edged up one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.2 per cent in July.
According to NBC News, Trump told reporters that he believed unfavourable job numbers released by the Bureau of Labour Statistics today were “phoney,” and accused the agency of a history of fudging numbers to boost his political opponents.
“I believe the numbers were phoney, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing,” Trump said.
