On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly jobs report.
Our colleague Matt Grossman, who covers business and financial news,
was following the story as he usually does.
Friday morning started with a routine.
jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This is a report that we get every month on the first Friday of the month,
giving information on the previous month's labor market.
This jobs report was the weakest one to come
since the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term.
The report said that the economy added 73,000 jobs in July,
which was less than economists had expected.
But maybe the bigger news was that the Labor Department said that in May and June,
the economy actually added 258,000 fewer jobs than it had initially reported in those months.
To economists, it was clear.
The report showed signs of a slowing economy.
And that really seemed to enrage President Trump.
And a few hours later,
he announced that he was firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Erica McIntarfer,
alleging that she was presiding over an office that was rigging the statistics to make a political point against him.