WH Economic Adviser Hassett: Jobs Data 'Unreliable'

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett justified President Donald Trump's decision to fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner last week, saying on Sunday the jobs data reporting out of the agency had become "very unreliable."

"What we need is a fresh set of eyes over the BLS," Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, told NBC News' "Meet the Press."

Trump ordered the removal of BLS chief Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, on Friday over the jobs numbers report that came out that day because "we didn't believe the numbers," he told Newsmax, adding she was "very suspect."

Hassett said that "the president is right to call for new leadership." 

"If the data aren't that good, then it's a real problem for the U.S. And right now the data are — have become very unreliable with these massive revisions over the last few years," he said.

"There have been a bunch of patterns that could make people wonder. And I think the most important thing for people to know is that it's the president's highest priority that the data be trusted and that people get to the bottom of why these revisions are so unreliable," Hassett said, adding that Friday's revision from McEntarfer was the "biggest since 1968."

"The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable. And if there are big changes and big revisions — we expect more big revisions for the jobs data in September, for example — then we want to know why, we want people to explain it to us," Hassett added.

Hassett also addressed the search to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell next May, saying he would be willing to take the post if asked.

"Well, we'll have to see if he chooses me," Hassett told "Meet the Press." "Right now, he's set up an active search with [Treasury] Secretary [Scott] Bessent, and they're going to go through a list of names. And I'm sure the president will pick the best available person."

Trump told Newsmax on Friday that Powell would "most likely" remain Fed chief through his term despite his running feud with Powell over interest rates.

"I would remove him in a heartbeat, but they say it would disturb the market, and he gets out in seven or eight months and I'll put somebody else in," Trump said of Powell.

• Trump Fires Labor Statistics Commissioner After Weaker Jobs Report
• Trump to Newsmax: Powell 'Most Likely' to Remain Fed Chair