The Trump-nominated head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics once suggested suspending the release of monthly employment reports

According to a report by Jinse Finance, Fox Business Channel stated that E.J. Antoni, the economist nominated by U.S. President Trump to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has recommended suspending the agency’s closely watched monthly employment report, citing fundamental flaws in its core methodology, economic models, and statistical assumptions. In an interview prior to Monday’s announcement of Trump’s nomination, Antoni criticized the reliability of the data behind the monthly employment report, claiming it is often exaggerated and warning that it misleads key economic decision-makers from Washington to Wall Street. Antoni stated, “When businesses don’t know how many jobs have been added or lost in our economy, how are they supposed to plan, or how is the Federal Reserve supposed to conduct monetary policy? This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Until the problem is fixed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics should suspend the release of the monthly employment report, but should continue to publish the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data,” he said. “Major decision-makers from Wall Street to Washington, D.C. rely on this data, and a lack of confidence in it will have far-reaching consequences.”