Panelists of “The Bottom Line” Stephen Moore and Ej Antoni discuss economic victories for the United States
EJ Antoni, the economist operated by the president Donald Trump To direct the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggested to suspend the agency’s monthly monthly job report, arguing that its underlying methodology, economic modeling and its statistical hypotheses are fundamentally defective.
In an interview with Fox Business before the announcement of the appointment on Monday, Antoni criticized the data behind the monthly job report as not reliable and frequently overestimated, warning that it misled the main economic decision -makers from Washington to Wall Street.
The former BLS commissioner says that there are better ways to collect data for job reports
“How can you devil the companies supposed to plan – or how the Fed is supposed to conduct a monetary policy – when they do not know how many jobs are added or lost in our economy? It is a serious problem which must be resolved immediately,” Antoni told Fox Business.
“Until it is corrected, the BLS should suspend the publication of monthly employment reports but continue to publish the most specific data, although less timely,” he said, adding: “The main DC DC decision-makers are based on these figures, and a lack of confidence in data has large-scale consequences.”
Antoni, the chief economist of the Heritage Foundation, faces the Senate confirmation before climbing to the foreground at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
President Donald Trump and economist EJ Antoni in the oval office following the appointment of the economist to direct the work statistics office. (House White / Fox News)
“Our economy is booming and EJ will guarantee that the figures released are honest and accurate,” wrote Trump in a social article of truth on August 12 announcing the appointment of Antoni. “I know that EJ Antoni will do incredible work in this new role. Congratulations EJ!”
Antoni and the Heritage Foundation did not immediately respond to the request for Fox Business comments.
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The appointment of Antoni follows the brutal rejection of Trump of the former agency commissioner, Erika Mcentarfer. Its withdrawal occurred a few hours after the agency has published new data showing that employment growth had been considerably overestimated. The office revised its May and June figures down 258,000 jobs, marking an unusual correction that has aroused strong Trump criticism.
“In my opinion, today’s employment numbers have been faked in order to ensure that the Republicans, and I look bad,” Trump wrote in a social article of truth on August 1.
The commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika Mcentarfer, poses for a photograph in this image of an unclean document, obtained by Reuters on August 2. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics / Handout via / Reuters)
Antoni told Fox Business that he did not believe that job data has been intentionally manipulated, as some have suggested, but rather argues that persistent defects in the office of Labor Statistics have been not treated.
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He highlighted a drop in the response rate – now less than 50% – as a key factor contributing to inaccuracies, claiming that “no one in power has solved data problems”.
“BLS data problems have been obvious for three years now, and they have still not been resolved,” said Antoni.
“The fact that you constantly have large downward revisions means that there are other bad things with your models and methodologies. Statistical assumptions that may have worked well before Covid is working in today’s economy and must therefore be revised.”
