U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), just 10 days after firing the agency’s previous head over unsubstantiated claims of data manipulation.
The BLS, part of the Labor Department, publishes key reports on employment and inflation that shape financial markets and guide policy decisions. Announcing the nomination on Truth Social, Trump said: “Our economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the numbers released are honest and accurate.”
Antoni, a vocal critic of the BLS, has accused the Biden administration of distorting labour data, notably in a New York Post article last year after the agency issued sharp downward revisions to employment figures for April 2023 to March 2024. He also contributed to “Project 2025,” a conservative blueprint to overhaul the federal government, prompting concerns among economists about the agency’s independence.
“This nominee will result in a surge in demand for private label data,” warned Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US. Alex Jacquez of the Groundwork Collaborative called Antoni a “sycophant” and described his selection as “a clear assault on independent analysis.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni will take over an agency already facing scrutiny over declining data quality, low survey participation, and staffing shortages. Trump dismissed former BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer on August 1, hours after the agency reported weaker-than-expected July job growth and downward revisions for May and June. There is no evidence supporting Trump’s claims that McEntarfer manipulated the figures.
Antoni, who holds a doctorate in economics, has taught labour economics and worked at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. However, some experts question his grasp of BLS methodology. “He has the economic credentials, but that doesn’t mean he understands how the BLS compiles and revises its data,” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University.
The BLS’s flagship nonfarm payrolls report tracks job creation, unemployment, wages, and working hours, while its CPI and PPI indexes measure inflation and influence Federal Reserve policy and Social Security adjustments. Years of underfunding — under both Republican and Democratic administrations — have forced the agency to rely more heavily on price estimates rather than direct collection, with imputed data now accounting for 35% of some CPI categories.
Erica Groshen, BLS commissioner from 2013 to 2017, warned staffing cuts could lead to missed deadlines and undetected errors: “I can’t help but worry… biases or other errors are going to start creeping into some of these reports.
