Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Risks Compromising a Key Resource

This month’s firing of Erika McEntarfer, who served as Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), risks undermining a critical resource that policymakers and the general public rely on to understand changes in the U.S. employment landscape—and our overall economy.

Operated within the U.S. Department of Labor, the BLS has long served as a reliable source of employment numbers, occupational projections, and wage data (among many other data points)—vital information for those seeking to understand the direct care workforce and improve conditions for these essential workers.

“The BLS operates with a trusted methodology, implemented and overseen by expert economists and statisticians,” said PHI’s Vice President of Research and Evaluation, Kezia Scales, PhD. “We call on the federal Administration to ensure that the Bureau and its dedicated staff have the resources and leadership they need to maintain this standard of transparency and reliability.”

PHI leverages BLS data to estimate and share key information about direct care workforce numbers, growth, and wage rates by occupation and care setting. “For many decades, the BLS has provided a critical, nonpartisan resource to help us understand—and strengthen—the U.S. labor economy,” said PHI’s President and CEO, Jodi M. Sturgeon. “We call on the Administration to make choices that sustain the public’s trust in this essential resource, and leave vital workforce data uncompromised.”

PHI was a signatory to a September 2024 Friends of the BLS letter urging increased funding for the Bureau to safeguard its ability to sustain quality workforce data. Without sufficient resourcing or experienced leadership, BLS risks losing its position as a credible source of data—and instead becoming an obstacle to advocates, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to advance real progress on behalf of millions of American workers.

Alongside dramatic reductions in force for vital federal agencies and unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and other vital programs, the firing of the BLS Commissioner (and the broader threat to our federal data infrastructure that it represents) contributes to a deeply concerning pattern of disruption to our nation’s public resources. For direct care workers—who also now see their right to basic labor protections through the Fair Labor Standards Act suspended— the cascading effects of these changes will challenge their ability to provide the care and support Americans rely on each day.