Non-farm annual data significantly revised down, the Trump administration goes all out, attacking BLS, Biden, and Powell

On Tuesday local time, following the U.S. government's significantly revised annual non-farm employment data, the White House quickly responded, criticizing three common targets of former President Trump: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), former President Biden, and Federal Reserve Chairman Powell.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a release:

Today, the BLS released the largest downward revision in history, proving that President Trump was right: Biden's economy is a mess, and the BLS has failed.

This is exactly why we need new leadership to restore trust and confidence in BLS data among financial markets, businesses, decision-makers, and families, as they rely on this data to make significant decisions.

Just as the BLS has let the American people down, so has Powell, who is now out of excuses and must cut interest rates immediately. The Federal Reserve needs to lower rates multiple times. The BLS non-farm employment annual revision released on September 9 indicates that the Federal Reserve needs new leadership.

The U.S. Department of Labor's report showed that the number of jobs created in the U.S. economy during the year starting in March 2024 was fewer than initially reported. According to the BLS's preliminary report, the annual revision of non-farm employment data was reduced by 910,000 from the initial estimate.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Basant stated that former President Trump's claim that "the Federal Reserve is stifling economic growth with high interest rates" is correct. Now that official data is available, the employment increase for 2024 has been exaggerated by nearly 1 million, even after a reported downward revision of 577,000. The Federal Reserve should recalibrate interest rates.

Basant also pointed out that the Federal Reserve must regain its independence and stop serving the wealthy. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is one of the main drivers of inequality.

U.S. Vice President Vance stated that it is necessary to take this opportunity to rebuild confidence in the BLS. The BLS data has become "useless."

U.S. Labor Secretary Chavez-Deremer stated that the data revision provides more reasons to question the BLS data and promised to modernize the data collection methods at the BLS, which did not improve during former President Biden's term.

Targets of Attack: BLS, Federal Reserve

Some media analyses pointed out that the BLS has become a target of a carefully orchestrated campaign by the White House to undermine public trust in its data.

In August, the BLS released the preliminary non-farm employment data for July, which included downward revisions to employment growth for two months earlier this year. A few hours later, Trump suddenly fired BLS Director Erika McEntarfer.

Trump argued that while these revisions are common in employment reports, they still indicate that the BLS is manipulating employment data for political purposes. His dismissal of McEntarfer drew strong criticism from economists and some lawmakers.

Powell was nominated as Federal Reserve Chairman by Trump in 2017. However, since the beginning of Trump's second term, Powell has frequently become a target of the White House's attacks, as Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with his refusal to cut interest rates. However, Powell stated in August that the uncertainty in the U.S. economy might make a rate cut later this month a reasonable choice