Can we still trust US economic data? With Erica Groshen

我们能继续相信美国经济数据吗?与埃里卡·格罗申对谈

The Economics Show

2025-08-08

30 分钟
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单集简介 ...

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a worse-than-expected US jobs report, President Trump fired the agency’s head, Erika McEntarfer, claiming her numbers were ‘wrong’ and manipulated. There’s no evidence this was the case but many agree gathering reliable data on the health of the economy is getting harder. The FT’s chief data reporter, John Burn-Murdoch, discusses why that’s happening and what to do about it with Erica Groshen, the former BLS commissioner. Clip: NBC Further Reading: US labour data agency was teetering even before Donald Trump fired its chief Trump’s war on data will do lasting harm Donald Trump’s attack on US labour statistics agency spooks investors John Burn-Murdoch is the FT’s chief data reporter. You can find his articles here Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by John Burn-Murdoch. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music from Breen Turner, and sound design by Jean-Marc Eck. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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单集文稿 ...

  • What do you do when your head of job statistics publishes numbers you don't like?

  • Well, if you're President Trump...

  • You know what I did?

  • I fired her.

  • And you know what?

  • I did the right thing.

  • Mr. President, why did you fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

  • Because I think her numbers were wrong.

  • Yes, the head of the U.S.

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erica McIntarfer,

  • is out of a job after the latest U.S. employment report showed the weakest U.S. jobs growth

  • since the pandemic.

  • Trump said job numbers... must be fair and accurate.

  • There's no evidence that the BLS statistics weren't fair,

  • but has President Trump hit on a broader point?

  • Are economic statistics getting less reliable?

  • This is The Economics Show from The Financial Times.

  • I'm John Byrne-Murdoch, the FT's chief data reporter,

  • and to answer this question, I'm here with Erika Groschen.

  • Erica was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama.