OPINION:
Uncle Sam doesn’t know how to count, and it’s time to do something about it. President Trump named E.J. Antoni to replace Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, who was fired last month after she released critical economic statistics that didn’t add up.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was the go-to agency for the Biden administration. When economic numbers looked grim, and they always did under President Biden’s management, the bureau issued official counts reflecting a happy and prosperous labor market. Later, when nobody was paying attention, the bureaucrats slipped out “revisions” revealing that those jobs never existed in the first place.
Last year, the agency reported 818,000 phantom jobs on nonfarm payrolls, the largest such goof in 15 years. Since 2023, the numbers have been off by 1.5 million. Such errors affect everyone because the Federal Reserve bases interest rates on this key metric.
Democrats are campaigning to block Mr. Antoni, the Heritage Foundation economist Mr. Trump tapped to rectify the situation. Liberals hate the idea that Ms. McEntarfer, as a federal employee, should be held accountable for the quality of her work. They also detest the concept of promoting someone who lacks the endorsement of the same Ivy League academics responsible for wrecking the economy over the past four years.
Mr. Trump realized that his first-term desire to select more conventional candidates for high-profile roles didn’t produce results. For instance, generals may boast impeccable credentials and impressive resumes, but they proved terrible choices for posts such as White House chief of staff and defense secretary. That’s why Mr. Trump’s second stint in the Oval Office shows a preference for outsiders such as Susie Wiles and Pete Hegseth.
The president’s biggest regret was nominating Jerome Powell to head the Federal Reserve in 2017. Mr. Trump now openly hints at his wish for Mr. Powell to ride off into the sunset.
“As we see, I got a bad recommendation when I went with Jerome ‘Too Late’ — his nickname is ‘Too Late,’” Mr. Trump said. “Because of him and his high interest rates, housing is less than it could be. He’s been the wrong guy. … The recommendation from a certain person was not a great recommendation.”
Mr. Antoni says he will fix the financial flimflam. The problem with job calculations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is that they are estimates based on surveys. If responses are tardy, revisions are necessary. Mr. Antoni says unreliable data is worse than late data, and he intends to drag the antiquated process into the digital age.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described on Bloomberg TV what the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been doing. “What I can tell you is the sample response size kept getting smaller and smaller, and then they filled in the cells. Anytime you get judgment versus data, then things become qualitative and not quantitative. I think E.J. is going to do a great job of bringing back quantitative standards.”
Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner’s position doesn’t normally require a confirmation hearing, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is expected to hold a meeting to allow Democrats to make their performative attacks on Mr. Antoni’s background.
Mr. Antoni deserves a shot at bringing reliability and accuracy to government statistics. He is a safe pick because he will be the next to go if he doesn’t measure up.
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