On a warm Friday morning, September 5, 2025, a small but determined crowd gathered outside the Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Supporters held signs and banners, their voices rising above the city’s hum. Their message was clear: the American public can trust the government’s economic data, especially the monthly jobs report produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
This rally, reported by both BERITAJA and NPR, wasn’t just another protest. It was a response to mounting skepticism and political turmoil swirling around the nation’s most-watched economic indicator. At the heart of the demonstration were current BLS employees, joined by advocates like Helen Lurie, a member of the Stop DOL Cuts coalition and a former Women’s Bureau staffer. Lurie, standing before the crowd, read aloud a statement crafted by BLS workers—a statement intended to reassure a wary public.
“Our job is to deliver economic data guided by law and statistical practice—not partisan whim,” the statement began, echoing through the crowd. The words were deliberate, a pointed reminder that the integrity of the BLS’s work is rooted in professional standards, not political agendas. According to NPR, the employees behind the statement asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal from the Trump administration for speaking out.
The timing of the rally was no accident. Just a month earlier, President Trump had fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following a disappointing July jobs report. Without providing evidence, Trump accused McEntarfer of manipulating the numbers to make him look bad and even suggested she had skewed the data before the November 2024 presidential election to help Kamala Harris. These claims, reported by both BERITAJA and NPR, were met with alarm by current BLS employees.
“Dr. McEntarfer did nothing wrong. No serious observer claims otherwise. Commissioners don’t ‘cook’ the numbers; they don’t even see them until after the estimates are complete,” the BLS workers wrote in their statement. Their call was unequivocal: McEntarfer should be reinstated, and the public should not let politics undermine confidence in official economic data.
Friday’s jobs report, released the same day as the rally, only added fuel to the fire. The numbers were sobering: the U.S. economy added just 22,000 jobs in August 2025, far less than anticipated. Even more concerning, a revision to the June report revealed the country had actually lost jobs that month—the first such decline since 2020. Both the July and August reports included downward revisions of previous months’ job gains, though the July numbers were revised up by 6,000 on September 5, as noted by both BERITAJA and NPR.
President Trump, quick to seize on the revisions in July, called them “a major mistake.” But as the BLS employees explained, such revisions are a normal part of the process. Every month, the government surveys roughly 121,000 businesses and government agencies across the country. Some employers don’t respond in time for the report’s publication, so their data is incorporated later, leading to these adjustments. Far from being “mistakes,” these revisions are a sign that the system is working as intended, refining the picture as more information becomes available.
“Revisions—either upwards or downwards—of the number of people working in the country are normal and fairly common,” the BLS workers emphasized. Their statement, as read by Lurie, underlined the agency’s commitment to transparency: “BLS publishes its sources, publishes its methods, and its data revisions follow a set schedule. The public doesn’t have to guess whether the job numbers are real.”
For many Americans, the monthly jobs report is more than just a set of numbers. It’s a barometer of the nation’s economic health, influencing everything from stock markets to political debates. In a climate where trust in institutions is often in short supply, the BLS’s insistence on accuracy and impartiality is vital. The employees’ statement made it clear: “The numbers will remain accurate and nonpartisan. And if that ever changes, the professionals will tell you.”
Yet the controversy surrounding McEntarfer’s firing and the subsequent political attacks have cast a shadow over the BLS’s work. According to BERITAJA, the fear among some employees is real. They worry about retaliation for speaking out, and about the long-term consequences of undermining public trust in official data. Still, they refuse to be intimidated. “We will not be intimated and vow to publish reliable data, no matter how inconvenient the results,” their statement declared.
Behind the scenes, the process of compiling the jobs report is painstaking. Surveyors reach out to businesses and agencies, collect data, and analyze trends. When some employers report late, their figures are added in subsequent revisions, which are then published according to a predetermined schedule. This methodical approach, as both NPR and BERITAJA reported, is designed to ensure the most accurate and up-to-date picture possible—no matter how the numbers may reflect on those in power.
The BLS’s commitment to transparency goes even further. The agency openly publishes its data sources and methods, inviting scrutiny from economists, journalists, and the public alike. This openness, the employees argue, is the best defense against accusations of bias or manipulation. “The public doesn’t have to guess whether the job numbers are real,” they insisted.
As the rally wound down, the mood among supporters was a mix of determination and frustration. The stakes, after all, are high. When trust in economic data erodes, so too does the foundation for informed debate and sound policy. For the BLS workers and their advocates, Friday’s gathering was about more than defending a single report or commissioner. It was about preserving the credibility of an institution that millions of Americans rely on every month.
By midafternoon, President Trump had yet to comment directly on the August jobs numbers. Instead, he directed his ire at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, criticizing him for not lowering interest rates sooner. The political drama, it seemed, was far from over. But for the BLS employees and their supporters, the message remained the same: facts matter, and the truth can withstand even the fiercest storms.
In an era of heated rhetoric and deepening divides, the professionals at the Bureau of Labor Statistics are standing firm, determined to let the numbers—and their integrity—speak for themselves.