TRUTH IN NUMBERS
When firing the facts becomes policy
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 2 2025
At 8:30 a.m. on Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its July Employment Situation: only 73 000 new jobs and a net –258 000 downward revision to May–June payrolls. By 2 p.m. President Trump had publicly dismissed BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, calling the figures “rigged” and promising to install “someone more loyal.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-fires-bls-chief-over-jobs-report-2025-08-02
Why this matters
Credibility undercuts prosperity. Mortgages, market forecasts, and wage talks lean on impartial federal data. Politicizing that data can lift borrowing costs and rattle investors who no longer trust the numbers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/business/economy/bls-independence.htmlA chilling precedent. Former commissioners William Beach and Erica Groshen called the firing “an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the federal statistical system,” likening it to tampering with the Census or the Fed.
https://www.statpolicy.org/open-letter-bls-independenceSurvey science already strained. Employer-response rates have slipped to 67 percent; talent pipelines may shrink further if statistical careers become partisan battlegrounds.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-quiet-crisis-in-federal-data-collectionA long-running grievance. Trump first labeled jobs data “phony” during 2016 campaign rallies; the dismissal turns that trope into governing doctrine.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-jobs-report-phony-228104
Voices to remember
“This totally groundless dismissal will haunt every future jobs report.”
— William Beach, BLS commissioner 2017-2021“In my opinion, today’s numbers were manipulated to hurt me.”
— Donald Trump on Truth Social, August 1 2025“It has been the honor of my life to serve alongside public servants who measure our vast economy.”
— Erika McEntarfer, farewell post
Reality check: what the data actually say
MetricValueTotal non-farm payrolls (July)+73 000May revision+144 000 → +19 000June revision+147 000 → +14 000Net two-month change–258 000
Source: BLS Employment Situation, July 2025 (PDF)
What you can do
Share the poster. Remind your network that statistical truth is a public good, not a partisan commodity.
Tell Congress. Urge legislators to grant fixed terms and removal protections to every federal statistical agency chief.
Stay curious. Download the raw jobs data each month and learn how revisions work. Fact literacy is civic power.
Poster art and this essay are part of the ongoing ForgeTheTruth series. View, print, and discuss at ForgeTheTruth.com.