Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday she doesn’t believe the big revisions to the official jobs numbers because she’s only heard them from President Donald Trump.
“I’m curious what you think about the Department of Labor announcing today that more than 800,000 fewer jobs were actually created than originally reported,” said ABC News correspondent Kayna Whitworth.
Whitworth then played a video of Trump discussing the data.
“No. First of all, I don’t believe it, because I’ve never heard Donald Trump tell the truth,” Raimondo responded.
But the figures Whitworth cited came from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said Wednesday that the number of jobs created in the 12 months ending in March was likely 818,000 fewer than reported, based on a government survey.
The new figures reflect tax records, which are considered a more accurate indicator of the labor market than business surveys used to calculate the monthly employment report.
The release of the revised employment forecast was highly anticipated on Wall Street, among investors and economists, and was highlighted in several analyst reports and business media articles over the past week.
The 818,000 downward revision was big news: It was the biggest revision since 2009 and suggested the labor market was much weaker than the monthly figures indicated.
But Ms. Raimondo appears not to have been aware of the announcement, a curious display of ignorance given her position as one of the nation’s top economic officials.
“It’s from the Department of Labor,” Whitworth explained.
“I don’t know much about that,” Raimondo said.
