Trump Highlights Unseen Data Amid Economic Concerns
President Donald Trump made efforts to shift the narrative about the U.S. economy at the White House on Thursday, amidst concerns following a recent labor report that indicated a slowdown in job creation and a rise in Black unemployment rates.
As journalists gathered for an East Room ceremony in honor of National Purple Heart Day, they were unexpectedly directed to the Oval Office. There, Trump, alongside Stephen Moore, an economist associated with The Heritage Foundation, presented a new set of economic data.
Following the dismissal of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ head, Trump facilitated a discussion with Moore, who showcased economic figures that he claimed were exclusive and “unpublished” from the Census Bureau.
Moore stated, “We have access to some data that no one else does on what has happened month by month with median household income,” describing the findings as “good news.”
Highlighting discrepancies, Moore asserted, “This shows that over the last two years of the Biden administration, the BLS overestimated job creation by 1.5 million jobs. That’s a gigantic error,” suggesting the possibility of deliberate inflation of figures.
Moore emphasized that during Trump’s initial months in office, the average median household income saw a significant increase, contrasting it with President Joe Biden‘s term. However, the data’s authenticity remains unverified due to its alleged source from unreleased Census data.
Bringing an external economist like Moore, rather than a White House official, to present federal economic data was notably unconventional. Angela Hanks, formerly with the Biden Labor Department, commented on the matter, expressing concerns about the accuracy of Moore’s claims.
Hanks, now with The Century Foundation, elucidated that revisions in labor data are standard and part of ongoing data refinement processes by the BLS. “It is not accurate to say that revisions mean that the data collection is sloppy or misleading, or even deliberately falsified,” she explained.
She further noted uncertainties regarding Moore’s access to unpublished Census data, posing questions about the legitimacy of his claims.
Hanks concluded that Moore and Trump might be attempting to justify the abrupt firing of Erika McEntarfer due to dissatisfaction with the labor report’s findings.
