President Donald Trump said Friday that he would nominate Brett Matsumoto, a longtime government economist, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after firing the agency’s commissioner in August.
“Brett Matsumoto is a Brilliant, Reputable, and Trusted Economist who will restore GREATNESS to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump fired former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August, hours after a dismal government report showed that hiring had slowed significantly in previous months. At the time, Trump claimed without evidence that the data was “rigged” and implied that McEntarfer had manipulated the numbers “for political purposes.”
BLS collects and publishes U.S. economic data on the labor market, inflation and productivity.
Trump’s announcement Friday comes months after he named E.J. Antoni, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a contributor to Project 2025, to replace McEntarfer. The White House pulled Antoni’s nomination in September after he faced backlash for his criticism of BLS and after the White House said he was a “bystander” at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Matsumoto has had a much more limited public profile. He began working as an economist at BLS in 2015 in its price index measurement division and is currently an economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a position he held during Trump’s first term as well.
His nomination has garnered early approval from industry leaders.
Omair Sharif, founder of the forecasting firm Inflation Insights, said in a post that Matsumoto is an “extremely solid choice.”
“He is a very smart, skilled economist who has 10+ yrs of experience at BLS. Understands the details of the data & importance of unbiased data,” Sharif said.
Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America, an economic policy research and advocacy organization, said in a post that Matsumoto is “a very thoughtful person who understands the nuts and bolts of data measurement and estimation.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Matsumoto would replace acting BLS Commissioner William Wiatrowski, who took over the agency after McEntarfer’s abrupt firing.