There is something Orwellian about Donald Trump’s decision to fire the head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday because the bureau produced unemployment numbers the president didn’t like.

In sacking Erika McEntarfer via a post on his social media platform, Trump accused her of rigging the latest jobs data “in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad”.

The data, which showed only a little over 100,000 jobs were added in the June quarter – the weakest growth in employment since the pandemic – contained major revisions to the May and June numbers, revising them down by 250,000. The unemployment rate edged up from 4.1 per cent to 4.25 per cent.

Despite claims to the contrary, Trump’s policies aren’t producing an economic boom.Credit: Matt WIllis

Revisions to the data, based on monthly surveys of businesses that progressively give the bureau (the BLS) a more accurate picture, are routine, but not usually as substantial as the one it released last week.

Its announcement, in the same week that Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day 2.0″ tariff regime, was always going to infuriate Trump because it casts a shadow over his claim that the US economy is booming and entering a “golden age”.

In response to the data, the US sharemarket slumped, as did bond yields and the dollar. The odds on a Federal Reserve Board rate cut next month shortened significantly.

The “immediate” sacking of the head of one of the world’s most important and respected statistical agencies also ignited a storm of criticism from economists concerned that Trump’s politicisation of the data and her position could undermine the integrity of data that is fundamental to understanding what’s occurring within the economy.

Trump’s politicisation of the data could undermine the integrity of statistics that are fundamental to understanding what’s occurring within the economy.Credit: Bloomberg

Trump said that “important numbers like these must be fair and accurate, they........

© The Sydney Morning Herald