White House economist: economic statistics agency needs "new perspective"

According to AXIOS, Stephen Miran, a senior White House economist, said an important economic statistics agency needs "a new perspective," but he did not repeat President Trump's claim that there was political manipulation in Friday's jobs data. Trump ordered the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics director on Friday after claiming, without evidence, that the disappointing jobs data was "rigged." The bureau later confirmed that director Erika McEntarfer was fired and that her deputy William Wiatrowski would serve as acting director. The July jobs report, released earlier Friday, showed that only 73,000 jobs were added last month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also announced a significant revision to the data, showing that the number of jobs was 258,000 fewer than previously thought in total. It was the second-largest two-month downward revision on record, behind only corrections made during the pandemic. "It's definitely time to look at this issue with a new lens and try to find solutions that improve data reliability and reduce revisions," said Mr. Miran. "The agency should try to incentivize faster feedback or delay data releases by a week or two if that reduces subsequent revisions."