BLS head nominee Antoni suggests pausing monthly jobs report, Fox Business says

E.J. Antoni, The Heritage Foundation’s chief economist who was named by President Donald Trump to become the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggested to Fox Business ahead of Monday’s nomination the possibility of suspending the agency’s monthly jobs report, claiming that the underlying methodology, economic modeling, and statistical assumptions are fundamentally flawed. “How on earth are businesses supposed to plan – or how is the Fed supposed to conduct monetary policy – when they don’t know how many jobs are being added or lost in our economy? It’s a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately,” Antoni told Fox Business. The economist will have to face Senate confirmation before taking the role at BLS, Fox Business said. The Fly notes that the nomination comes after Trump dismissed Erika McEntarfer, the agency’s previous commissioner, hours after the agency released disappointing monthly jobs numbers.