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\n President Trump plans to name conservative economist E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump fired the bureau’s previous leader after a disappointing jobs report.
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Jim Watson\/AFP<\/p>\n
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Jim Watson\/AFP<\/p>\n
President Trump plans to nominate conservative economist E.J. Antoni to lead one of the government’s top statistical agencies, 10 days after firing the previous chief over a disappointing jobs report. <\/p>\n
Antoni is an economist at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation. He previously worked for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.<\/p>\n
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump wrote in a social media post<\/a>. <\/p>\n If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni would take control of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which is responsible for producing the monthly jobs report as well as tracking inflation. <\/p>\n Trump fired the previous commissioner of labor statistics, Erika McEntarfer, less than two weeks ago, after the bureau reported weaker-than-expected job gains for May, June and July. The president said the numbers were rigged to make him look bad \u2014 a claim that was widely dismissed by independent economists<\/a>. <\/p>\n