President Donald Trump on Friday directed his administration to dismiss Erika McEntarfer as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, alleging without evidence that she doctored employment figures to favor Democrats. The move came hours after the July jobs report showed payrolls grew by only about 73,000 and that earlier estimates for May and June were cut by a combined 258,000, sending U.S. equities roughly 1.5% lower. McEntarfer, a former Biden nominee confirmed by an 86-8 Senate vote in January 2024, is the only political appointee at the agency. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting head while Trump searches for a permanent replacement, a name he said could come within three to four days. The president also signalled he will soon fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve Board after the unexpected resignation of Governor Adriana Kugler. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett defended the dismissal, calling recent labor-market data “unreliable” and urging a broader overhaul of BLS methodology. Trump echoed that critique and intensified his attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying the central-bank chief should be put “out to pasture.” The unprecedented ouster drew sharp rebukes from economists and former officials, including one-time BLS commissioner William Beach and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who warned that politicising the statistics agency could erode confidence in a dataset widely viewed as the gold standard for global investors and policymakers.