Markets slump on tariffs and jobs data as Trump fires labor bureau statistics chief

Our live coverage of tariffs and the July jobs report has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read about today’s developments.

The National Association for Business Economics slammed President Donald Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer “and the unfounded accusations leveled against the work of the agency” in a statement Friday.

Trump claimed the bureau manipulated monthly job reports for “political purposes” after a disappointing July jobs report, which also revised down sharply numbers for the past two months. Trump did not show evidence to support those claims.

“This unprecedented attack on the U.S. statistical system threatens the long-standing credibility of our economic data infrastructure,” the statement read.

The organization said business leaders and policymakers depend on “reliable, impartial economic data” to make important decisions. And the gold standard for those economic statistics came from the US, the statement said.

Politicians and experts are reacting this evening after President Donald Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after accusing her, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for “political purposes.”

It followed the release of the monthly US unemployment report in the morning that showed job growth had stalled in July.

Here’s what we know so far:

CNN’s Bryan Mena, Kit Maher, Veronica Stracqualursi, Ramishah Maruf, Jeanne Sahadi, Tami Luhby, Morgan Rimmer and Elise Hammond contributed reporting.

Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington DC on July 30th.

President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell continued this evening after he left the White House.

After a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced her resignation earlier in the day, Trump said it’s time for Powell to follow suit.

“’Too Late’ Powell should resign, just like Adriana Kugler, a Biden Appointee, resigned. She knew he was doing the wrong thing on Interest Rates. He should resign, also!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Fed didn’t provide a reason for why Kugler resigned. Trump claimed earlier that she resigned due to disagreement with Powell on interest rate decisions but didn’t provide any evidence for his claim.

Heidi Shierholz

President Donald Trump’s firing of a top Labor Department data official is both a danger to democracy and to the economy, Heidi Shierholz, who served as the agency’s chief economist in the Obama administration, said in a statement.

Shierholz, now president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, called Trump’s removal of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer because he didn’t like the July jobs report “a move straight of an autocratic playbook.”

But it also has serious consequences for the economy, which “runs on reliable data.”

The White House today slammed the Bureau of Labor Statistics as having a “lengthly history of inaccuracies and incompetence” under the now-fired commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

Trump ousted McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, after a worse-than-expected July jobs report. The president claimed, without evidence, that previous job numbers were “rigged” to help Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.

The White House claimed that BLS under McEntarfer “consistently published overly optimistic jobs numbers — only for those numbers to be quietly revised later” and has had “technical errors and leaks of sensitive information.”

The jobs report released Friday showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July. It also revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June by a combined 258,000 jobs.

Some context: Revisions are normal in this process. The BLS’ initial monthly jobs estimates are often based on incomplete data, so they are revised twice after the initial report — followed by an annual revision every February.

After announcing on social media this afternoon that he was firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the wake of a weak jobs report, President Donald Trump alleged with no evidence that the July numbers had been rigged against him – and then made a false claim about the bureau’s actions in 2024 to support his conspiracy theory.

Trump wrote in another social media post: “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad — Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were ‘taken away’ on November 15, 2024, right after the Election, when the Jobs Numbers were massively revised DOWNWARD, making a correction of over 818,000 Jobs — A TOTAL SCAM.”

It’s not clear what Trump might have been referring to when he mentioned “November 15, 2024.” The White House provided no explanation in response to a CNN request for one, instead pointing to a social media post by Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer that did not substantiate the president’s claim.

Trump’s claim that the preliminary 2024 revision was made only after the election was an escalation of his inaccurate rhetoric on the subject of the revision, which covered the 12 months ending in March 2024.

Erika McEntarfer

Questioned about his firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to jobs reports before the November election, which he claimed were manipulated to boost his opponent for the presidency, Kamala Harris.

“We’re doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So, you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn.

Trump said he’s “always had a problem with these numbers,” when asked if officials who present data or information he doesn’t like should fear for their jobs.

“I was thinking about it this morning, before the numbers that came out. I said, ‘Who is the person that does these numbers?’ And then they gave me stats about before the election,” Trump said.

“We need people that we can trust,” he added.

Trump demanded BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer’s firing in a Truth Social post today after the slow July jobs report. Trump said there are “a lot of good candidates” to replace McEntarfer but hinted at “three people” he’s thinking of for the full-time position.

“I put somebody in who’s going to be honest. That’s all we want,” Trump said. “I have a choice: I can have four months, I can do a short-term or I can do a 14-year deal.”

Asked by CNN’s Jeff Zeleny what evidence he had to say that the jobs numbers are “rigged,” Trump replied: “If you look at before the election, the same kind of thing happened. And I think you’ll see some very interesting information come out, but we got rid — you have to have honest reports. And when you look at those numbers, or when you look at just before the election and then after the election, they corrected it by eight or 900,000 jobs.”

It would be very difficult for Bureau of Labor Statistics leaders to play with the jobs numbers because hundreds of people each handle specific slices of the data that go into the topline monthly figure and report, according to a former BLS commissioner who was appointed in 2008 by former President George W. Bush and served three years under former President Barack Obama. If figures were changed within the agency, the total wouldn’t add up.

While he acknowledged that BLS’ revisions are problematic, Hall said that part of why the figures are updated is because the agency goes back to check its work. Sometimes the initial numbers are too high and sometimes too low – but BLS details why the initial data was wrong.

“It’s frustrating for users of BLS data to have significant revisions, but that’s not the same thing as intentional bias,” he said. “When they make revisions, they own up to it.”

Hall doesn’t think that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer’s firing will compromise the integrity of BLS’ data going forward. Newly named Acting Commissioner William Wiatrowski has worked at the agency for many years, and most BLS employees are career staffers, not political appointees, he noted.

“I trust BLS’ numbers more than any administration’s take on the numbers,” he said.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading today in New York City. All three major stock indexes tumbled with the Dow Jones leading the way losing over 500 points amid signs of a weakening economy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s modified tariff rates.

US stocks were battered by a sell-off on Friday as Wall Street reckoned with President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

Additionally, the US job market slowed sharply in July and was substantially weaker than first estimated for prior months, suggesting Trump’s trade policy may be stifling hiring.

The White House last night unveiled adjusted reciprocal tariffs, which will take effect next week for virtually every nation, cementing a break from decades of free trade and signaling a new protectionist era.

Here’s what you should know:

Stock markets:

Leadership changes:

Predecessors of the fired BLS data chief lambasted President Donald Trump Friday for terminating Commissioner of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer after accusing her — without evidence — of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for “political purposes.”

“This baseless, damaging claim undermines the valuable work and dedication of BLS staff who produce the reports each month. This escalates the President’s unprecedented attacks on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system,” McEntarfer’s predecessors William Beach and Erica Groshen, as well as Paul Schroeder, head of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, wrote in a statement released late Friday afternoon.

They also called on Congress to immediately “investigate the factors that led to Commissioner McEntarfer’s removal, to strongly urge the Commissioner’s continued service, and ensure that the nonpartisan integrity of the position is retained.”

Adriana Kugler, governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve Board open meeting in Washington, DC, US, on June 25th.

President Donald Trump today told reporters that a Federal Reserve governor is resigning because she disagreed with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates.

Trump did not offer any evidence to back his claim.

Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler announced she was resigning today, effective August 8. That would give Trump a vacancy to appoint someone who could further his economic vision for the central bank.

“But we just found out that I have an open spot on the Federal Reserve Board. I’m very happy about that,” Trump said.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) speaks to a reporter off the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 30 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio gave a particularly sunny portrayal of a July jobs report that showed stalled US job growth, describing aspects of the report as “phenomenal news” today.

The BLS’ monthly labor report showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations, and revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June by a combined 258,000 jobs.

Asked about President Donald Trump’s calls for the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to be fired in the wake of the jobs report, Moreno said, “I don’t know anything about that.” He again emphasized that the numbers are “pretty good.”

CNN reported that Trump later fired BLS commissioner Dr. Erika McEntarfer.

Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listens during a news conference on tariffs, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer slammed President Donald Trump for firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over the monthly jobs report, likening the move to that of a dictator.

The BLS’ monthly labor report showed that the US economy added just 73,000 jobs last month, and the monthly totals for May and June were revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs.

Schumer noted that Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the ousted BLS commissioner, was confirmed by the Senate to the role, 86-8, with the support of Vice President JD Vance, then a senator from Ohio.

“As long as Donald Trump keeps firing messengers who bring him truth — he hates truth when he doesn’t agree with it — as long as he does that, this economy will not improve. Inflation and cost to the American people will not go away. New jobs will not return to this country,” he said.

“He ought to start, start governing like a leader, not like someone who imitates authoritarian leaders,” Schumer said.

Trump’s new tariffs will send the US effective tariff rate to 17%, Fitch Ratngs reported Friday. That’s the average tax that US importers will pay for goods that are brought into the United States from overseas.

Few Americans living today have ever seen a higher effective tariff rate. The new trade regime will put in place the highest tariffs America has imposed since 1933, according to Yale’s Budget Lab. That was during the Smoot-Hawley era — a tariff bill that contributed to the deepening of the Great Depression.

Last year, imports to the United States faced an effective tariff rate of 1.2%, according to Fitch. The tariff rate fell that low over the course of many decades.

Declining tariffs in part persuaded US companies to make their products in foreign countries where labor costs were cheaper — and then ship those goods back into the United States while facing a relatively minuscule tax penalty for doing so.

The higher tariffs threaten to disrupt the global economy. Despite a milder-than-expected impact so far at home, there’s already some evidence Trump’s tariffs are — slowly — reigniting inflation and slowing the US economy.

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced that deputy commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after Dr. Erika McEntarfer was quickly fired at President Donald Trump’s directive.

“I support the President’s decision to replace Biden’s Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS. During the search for a replacement, Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as Acting Commissioner,” Chavez-DeRemer posted on X.

DeRemer added that “a recent string of major revisions have come to light and raised concerns about decisions being made by” McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump called for her to be fired over accusations that she “manipulated” jobs report numbers “for political purposes.”

Wiatrowski became deputy commissioner under Obama in 2015 and served as acting commissioner both during Trump’s first term and later in March 2023 during Biden’s term, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CNN has reached out to Wiatrowski for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has celebrated previous jobs reports this year.

In a post on X after the June jobs report, Leavitt said, “For the FOURTH month in a row, jobs numbers have beat market expectations with nearly 150,000 good jobs created in June. American-born workers have accounted for ALL of the job gains since President Trump took office and wages continue to rise.”

President Donald Trump listens at an event in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is nonpartisan, and businesses and government officials rely on the accuracy of its data to make determinations about investment, hiring, spending and all sorts of key decisions.

Furman doubted that replacing Dr. Erika McEntarfer would compromise the BLS, but he said even the possibility or appearance of that notion “would be bad.”

“Countries that have tried to fake those statistics have often ended up with economic crises as a result,” Furman said.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the BLS’ data is at the “highest standard,” and “as accurate as it can be.”

“Anything that undermines that or even the perception of that high standard is deeply worrisome,” Zandi said. “I’ve never seen anything even close to this.”

At Moody’s, Zandi said he has hired a number of former BLS economists whom he called “fantastic.”

“They do great work,” Zandi said. “They are critical to a well-functioning economy.”

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia accused Trump of working the referees.

“Firing the ump doesn’t change the score,” Warner said. “Americans deserve to know the truth about the state of the Trump economy.”

Traders works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

US stocks were battered by a sell-off on Friday as Wall Street reckoned with President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

The Dow closed lower by 542 points, or 1.23%. The broader S&P 500 fell 1.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.24%.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their worst day since May and April, respectively. The Dow posted its worst day in over a month and closed its worst week since early April.

While Wall Street had been expecting Trump’s tariffs, investors are digesting the widespread implications for business activity, international trade and global economic growth.

“The market is tired of the tariff drama,” Peter Ricchiuti, senior professor of finance at Tulane University, told CNN. “There is also the recognition that the tariff damage will get worse.”

“Companies shipped an enormous amount of product before some of the tariffs were implemented,” Ricchiuti said. “This inventory will be winding down and prices will be reflecting the tariffs.”

Here’s what else happened in markets:

Adriana Kugler, member of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, attends a Federal Reserve Board open meeting discussing proposed revisions to the board's supplementary leverage ratio standards at the Federal Reserve Board building in Washington, DC, on June 25.

A member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors announced Friday that she is resigning several months before the end of her term.

Fed Governor Adriana Kugler is stepping down from her role, effective August 8. The Fed did not cite a reason for her departure. Her term was slated to end in January 2026.

“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler said in a statement. “I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”

She was absent from the Fed’s latest meeting, in which officials voted to hold borrowing costs steady for the fifth consecutive time.

Kugler’s resignation means Trump will be able to name a replacement sooner than expected; this person could then be eligible to serve as Fed chair.

According to Fed rules, the chair can be chosen only among the current members of the Fed’s board. The chair must be confirmed by the Senate.

Contenders for the top job at the central bank include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor; Christopher Waller, a current Fed governor; and Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council.

Bottles of French and Italian wine are displayed on a shelf at grocery store on March 13 in San Anselmo, California.

President Donald Trump’s new tariffs could mean your happy hour cocktail or glass of wine at a dinner on date night will cost you more.

Imported wine and spirits encompass 35% of revenue of all US sales in the alcohol market, according to the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA).

Much of it comes from countries in the European Union. Trump announced a trade deal imposing a 15% tariff on most imports from the bloc.

The tariffs applying to alcohol products is a change from wine and spirits being exempt from additional duties in some countries, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Here how some beverages will be impacted: