Trump nominates Antoni to head BLS, drawing independence concerns

President Donald Trump nominated EJ Antoni, a conservative economist at the Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a move that has sparked a wave of criticism from economists who view the appointment as highly political for a traditionally nonpartisan agency. The nomination follows the firing of the incumbent commissioner after the release of a weak jobs report, fueling concerns about the independence and credibility of the nation’s key labor and inflation statistics.

Antoni, a longtime critic of the BLS and a contributor to the conservative policy network, has argued publicly for major changes to how the agency collects and presents data. He has floated the idea of publishing quarterly data and even discussed the possibility of suspending the monthly employment report if data collection and processes are not improved. In his public comments, Antoni suggested restoring trust in the data by overhauling the agency’s approach and emphasized that the next commissioner should be willing to fundamentally rethink the BLS’s methods. His rhetoric has alarmed many former officials and economists who say the monthly jobs numbers remain a cornerstone of economic...