Natalie Sherman
Business reporter, in New York
Watch: Trump defends firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics head over “wrong” numbers
US President Donald Trump has fired the boss of one of America’s most important economic institutions hours after weaker-than-expected jobs data stoked further alarm about his tariff policy.
On social media Trump claimed that Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), had “RIGGED” jobs figures “to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad”.
The unprecedented move by the White House sparked accusations that Trump was politicising economic data.
The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said the president was “a bad leader” who “shoots the messenger” for weak statistics.
US stock markets were rattled on Friday after Trump, a Republican, forged ahead with his plans to raise import tariffs on goods from countries around the world.
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