According to ChainCatcher, citing informed sources from the Wall Street Journal, after the unexpected dismissal of the Labor Statistics Bureau director due to weak employment data performance this month, White House officials revealed that the Trump administration is considering changing the way federal employment data is collected and released.
Informed sources reveal that in recent days, White House staff and Labor Department officials held a series of closed-door meetings to discuss proposals for using new technologies to improve data collection efficiency. A White House assistant stated that increasing the response rate of the Labor Statistics Bureau's survey is one of the reform goals. Officials say Trump has explicitly requested to avoid significant data revisions in the future. White House Press Secretary Levitt said on Tuesday that the president is reviewing the 'statistical methods and processes' behind the employment data.
Reports indicate that if there are changes to the statistical methods used in the non-farm payroll report released on the first Friday of each month, it may trigger public concerns that Trump is manipulating the data for political purposes. The president, who often questions data that does not align with his worldview, has recently been intensifying control over traditionally independent agencies and purging career bureaucrats deemed disloyal.
