President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate economist Brett Matsumoto to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing the agency in a social media post of releasing "VERY inaccurate numbers" and saying he fired its previous commissioner.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday:
"For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under WEAK and STUPID people, has been FAILING American Businesses, Policymakers, and Families by releasing VERY inaccurate numbers."
"That is why I FIRED the former Commissioner, and am pleased to nominate the very talented Brett Matsumoto as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)."
"Brett was a Supervisory Research Economist for the BLS, but is now serving as a Senior Economist on the Trump Council of Economic Advisers, like he did in my First Term."
"I am confident that Brett has the expertise to QUICKLY fix the long history of issues at the BLS on behalf of the American People. Brett Matsumoto is a Brilliant, Reputable, and Trusted Economist who will restore GREATNESS to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Congratulations, Brett!"
Trump fired the prior Senate-confirmed BLS commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, in August after criticizing a jobs report and revisions to earlier payroll estimates, while offering no evidence that the agency manipulated the figures.
Separately from Trump’s claims, the BLS has disclosed several recent data problems or limitations in official notices and technical materials, including a preliminary benchmark revision released in September 2025 that showed payroll employment for the 12 months ending March 2025 was revised down by 911,000 in preliminary estimates.
In another example, the BLS said in June 2025 that it would correct some April 2025 household-survey estimates due to "minor errors to weights" tied to a redesigned Current Population Survey sample, while saying that major labor force measures such as the unemployment rate were unaffected and that the impact was negligible.
The agency has also reported constraints on collecting inflation data.
In a June 2025 notice, the BLS said it was reducing Consumer Price Index sample collection in areas around the country, including suspending collection entirely in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah, in April, and Buffalo, New York, in June, citing the need to align workload with available resources and warning that some subnational or item-specific indexes could become more volatile.
More recently, BLS materials also reflect gaps created by the 2025 lapse in appropriations, including missed October 2025 data collection for some CPI survey items that the agency said it could not retroactively collect.
Matsumoto, a BLS economist since 2015 with a PhD from UNC-Chapel Hill, recently served on detail at the White House Council of Economic Advisers but has little prior political experience. His nomination would require Senate confirmation.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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