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Weekly News Digest
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August 5, 2025 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today.
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Perspectives on Trump's Latest Attack on Data, This Time at the BLS
The United States’ slow march toward total authoritarian control continues with the Trump administration’s firing of President Biden-appointed Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner Erika McEntarfer because “the latest monthly jobs report came in well under expectations,” POLITICO reports. “The removal of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner came after Trump reprised prior accusations that BLS surreptitiously put out overly rosy jobs numbers at the tail end of the Biden administration that were revised in an effort to influence the election. Economists have roundly dismissed those claims as a misunderstanding of the agency’s revision processes.” The deputy commissioner, William Wiatrowski, who served during Trump’s first term, became acting commissioner. POLITICO features reactions from around the federal government.The Hill published more reactions, in: The Hill records Trump’s reaction and notes, “White House officials said … that Trump wants his own nominee to run the bureau, which is tasked with working on data related to other economic metrics as well such as inflation.” And, chillingly, Kevin Hassett, chair of the National Economic Council, said, “The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they’re more transparent and more reliable. …” NPR shared an audio reaction from former BLS commissioner Erica Groshen, who explains the commissioner’s inability to influence or change any data. The Friends of BLS issued a statement condemning Trump’s action, as did the Association of Public Data users. The New York Times digs into the historical precedents for Trump’s actions, stating: When President Trump didn’t like the weak jobs numbers that were released on Friday, he fired the person responsible for producing them. It was a move with few precedents in the century-long history of economic statistics in the United States. And for good reason: When political leaders meddle in government data, it rarely ends well. ABC News looks at Trump’s personal history of “bashing jobs report numbers,” stating, “Trump's public frustrations with the economics and statistics agency appear to date back to his 2016 presidential campaign.” The New York Times offers a profile on McEntarfer, noting, “Nearly the entire Senate supported Erika McEntarfer in 2024 to lead the agency that produces key data on jobs and inflation. The widely respected economist was confirmed on a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote, with support from Vice President JD Vance, who was then an Ohio senator, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator.” TIME has a succinct overview of the latest jobs data in the following categories: data revisions from past months, federal government sector loss of jobs, manufacturing industry loss of jobs, and where jobs are still growing.
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Brandi Scardilli
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