Maddow Blog-From cooking the books to hiding the books: Team Trump puts access to jobs data in doubt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

For several decades, the federal government has released U.S. job data every month. The Trump administration could impose a radical scheduling change.

Old concern: On jobs data, maybe Trump and his team will cook the books.

New concern: On jobs data, maybe Trump and his team will close the books and keep them hidden for much of the year. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-13T12:59:17.129Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/cooking-books-hiding-books-team-trump-puts-access-jobs-data-doubt-rcna224693

A key element of the White House’s war on data is hiding government statistics it doesn’t like. In fact, throughout Donald Trump’s second term, his administration has gone to outlandish lengths to keep important data away from the public.......

That list might yet grow in dramatic ways. The Washington Post reported:

President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics told Fox News Digital on Monday that the agency should suspend monthly jobs reports, a change that could leave businesses and policymakers at least temporarily without the data they’ve used for decades to gauge the state of the labor market and broader economy.

.....Nevertheless, after Antoni’s comments to Fox News Digital circulated, a reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt whether the administration would, in fact, start limiting public access to U.S. job data to once per quarter, instead of once per month.

Leavitt confirms that monthly jobs reports may be suspended "until they can get the data and methodology in order"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-08-12T19:33:27.689Z

,,,,,First, when a White House press secretary begins her answer to a straightforward question with, “Well, look,” that tends to be a bad sign.

Second, saying that the administration “plans” and “hopes” to keep releasing monthly reports was hardly a firm commitment to the status quo.

Third, the White House continues to talk about revisions to government statistics in a way that makes it seem as if Trump administration officials don’t understand the underlying policy details at a basic level.

Fourth, if there’s been “a decline in the quality and reliability of data,” that might have something to do with the president firing so many of the people who were responsible for collecting and compiling the data.

,,,,,There’s no need to cook the books when it’s easier to close the books and keep them hidden.

[MrWowWow]

1. And Destroying Any Data Logging Capability

If you cannot measure it, it's not happening(?).. WTF!
.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/13/climate/nasa-satellites-trump-budget-cuts-weather
.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/climate/trump-cuts-mauna-loa-keeling

[indusurb]

2. If they do either, the financial markets will go crazy and collapse the economy

You can't have stable markets, especially the bond market, without accurate data. If they hide the books or cook them our economy will collapse. Perhaps that's what they want.