U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended President Trump’s decision to fire a key official responsible for employment reports, telling CBS News on Friday that Mr. Trump has “real concerns” about the accuracy of federal economic data.<\/p>\n
Greer spoke to “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” hours after the monthly jobs report showed a hiring slowdown<\/a> in July and revised down earlier reports for May and June. Mr. Trump reacted by firing<\/a> Commissioner of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer, claiming<\/a> \u2014 without evidence \u2014 Friday’s jobs numbers were “RIGGED.”<\/p>\n “You know, even last year during the campaign<\/a>, there were enormous swings in the jobs numbers, and so it sounds to me like the president has real concerns,” Greer told CBS News, adding that Mr. Trump’s issues with government labor data extend beyond Friday’s report.\u00a0<\/p>\n “You want to be able to have somewhat reliable numbers. There are always revisions, but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways,” said Greer.<\/p>\n The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ reports are based on surveys of households and businesses. It’s common<\/a> for the agency to revise prior months’ figures up or down as more data comes in. The May and June revisions \u2014 which cut the number of new jobs by a combined 258,000 \u2014 were the largest downward change in employment figures since 1979<\/a>, excluding pandemic-era jobs reports, though that doesn’t mean the data was manipulated, as Mr. Trump claims.<\/p>\n Greer defended Mr. Trump’s right to fire McEntarfer, an economist who was nominated to the post by former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n “The President is the President. He can choose who works in the executive branch,” Greer said.<\/p>\n The firing drew staunch criticism, with McEntarfer’s predecessor William Beach \u2014 who was first nominated in Mr. Trump’s first term \u2014 calling it “groundless” and a “dangerous precedent.”<\/p>\n “This rationale for firing Dr. McEntarfer is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers,” Beach said in a statement.<\/p>\n Friday’s report showed the economy added 73,000 jobs in July, below the 115,000 predicted by economists. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, up from 4.1% a month earlier.<\/p>\n Greer predicts “big increase in manufacturing jobs”<\/p>\n The jobs report also showed a slight drop<\/a> in manufacturing jobs last month. Mr. Trump’s tariff hikes<\/a> are intended in part to boost American manufacturing \u2014 though critics warn some U.S.-based factories that rely on foreign-made inputs will be hurt<\/a> by tariffs.<\/p>\n When asked about July’s manufacturing data, Greer \u2014 one of Mr. Trump’s trade negotiators \u2014 told CBS News he doesn’t “read tariff policy into that number.”<\/p>\n Instead, Greer argued that the numbers reflect conditions prior to the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed through Congress last month. He argued businesses were “waiting to see” if some of the bill’s tax provisions would pass, including parts that GOP lawmakers believe will encourage more business investment.<\/p>\n “I think that we’re going to see a big increase in manufacturing jobs now that we have the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ passed,” Greer said. “And I think that \u2026 our manufacturers know that they have a clear and certain path forward on that now.”<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n