Lutnick Expects More Accurate Jobs Report Today After Trump Fired BLS Chief: Report

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Friday he expects the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly jobs data to become more accurate following President Donald Trump's dismissal of the agency's chief.

In an interview with CNBC, Lutnick said,“I think they'll get better.” Trump last month fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the previous month's release showed a sharp slowdown in job growth for July, a reading the White House sharply criticized.

Blaming BLS issues on old leadership, he indicated that the staff changes at the agency would bring more accuracy. Lutnick added that he believed the numbers would improve“because you'll take out the people who are just trying to create noise against the president.” 

On the recent trade deal with Japan, he said that President Trump has“complete discretion” as to where investments go.“These big deals are going to stay,” Lutnick added, referring to the ongoing tariffs case.

The Commerce Secretary also expressed concern over India's recent announcement that it will continue to buy oil from Russia, despite the U.S. placing secondary tariffs on the country. According to him, it was“wrong for India to increase purchases of Russian oil.” 

U.S. equities were in the green during pre-market trade on Friday. The SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY) was up 0.3%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) gained 0.03%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moved 0.87% higher. Retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits remained in 'bearish' territory over the past day.

Read also: Bitcoin Hovers At $112K Ahead Of Jobs Report, Altcoins Flatline

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