Donald Trump will need to take more radical action than simply firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) if he is determined to “cook the books” on jobs figures, the federal agency’s former commissioner has said.
Erica Groshen, who ran the BLS during Barack Obama’s presidency, said meddling with how government statisticians calculate unemployment and labour market trends would require “a whole new cadre” of people to be brought in by a new commissioner. It would also provoke upheaval and a likely rash of whistle-blowing among the existing workforce.
