President Trump intends to nominate economist Brett Matsumoto to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to sources familiar with the situation.
This selection is notable as it brings in the first career official for the position since the previous director was dismissed on August 1, following discontent over negative job market statistics.
Matsumoto has been an economist at the BLS since 2015, though he was not politically active until he recently spent a significant amount of time with the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earned in 2015.
Trump’s choice of Matsumoto, who has been a part of the administration for years but lacks a heavy partisan history, is likely to provide some reassurance to economists and investors worried about potential political bias in the statistical agency.
Previously, last fall, Trump nominated E.J. Antoni, an economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation, for the same role. However, Antoni had little federal experience and limited academic publications, despite being very critical of the BLS; this nomination faced widespread backlash, leading to its withdrawal before reaching the Senate.
Funding for the BLS has been stagnant for quite some time, and inflation-adjusted budgets have been decreasing. Recently, an employee freeze within the federal government has hampered the collection of price data, prompting the BLS to reduce its inflation surveys in certain areas of the country.
Several economists have criticized some of the statistical methods used by the BLS to compensate for missing price data during the past year’s government shutdown, arguing that inaccurate inflation metrics may persist for months. The BLS has stated it is following established contingency plans for handling incomplete data.
Matsumoto, whose professional background aligns closely with that of his predecessor, will need Senate confirmation to take on this role. Since August, the Bureau has been managed on an interim basis by long-standing staff member William Wiatrowski.
