The saying “figures don’t lie, but liars do figure” has often been attributed to author Mark Twain. Some researchers disagree on the source. But whatever its origin, the adage could easily be applied to President Donald Trump — who has no interest in real numbers that align with reality.
And another few words could be added: Liars do fire people.
Dr. Erika McEntarfer, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released data on Aug. 1 that suggested a slowing economy, based on the number of new jobs created in July. She also presented revised, less optimistic jobs figures for May and June. These reports are based on factual information and using methods the BLS has used whoever is president.
Unemployed workers demonstrate in the 1930s. Workers today need a mass movement to fight for jobs.
Trump fired McEntarfer the same day the figures were made public. He said her facts were somehow “rigged” to make it look like the capitalist economy has not, as Trump has claimed, been booming since he took office in January.
McEntarfer’s appointment was approved last year with bipartisan support — only eight senators opposed her nomination. Among those voting for her were then-Senators JD Vance and Marco Rubio, now vice president and secretary of state respectively, and both subservient to Trump.
Trump’s brazenly dictatorial move violates even basic bourgeois democratic norms. The capitalist class relies on agencies such as the BLS for statistical information that reflects how its economy is faring, even when the numbers present a negative outlook.
Trump fired a person tasked with delivering necessary information. Thus many politicians from both parties are condemning Trump’s actions.
Of course, it’s the workers who really suffer when employment levels drop. The rich are still rich when that happens. In July, according to the BLS, only 73,000 new jobs were created, but there were 985,000 “new entrants” who were unemployed while looking for their first job. This was an increase of 275,000 people, probably mostly youth. (bls.gov, Aug. 1)
The total official number of unemployed workers remained steady at 7.2 million. Another 4.7 million people were underemployed — working part time, because they couldn’t find full-time work. The jobs figures were impacted by cuts in the federal workforce under Trump as well as mass layoffs of tech workers.
The unemployment rates are higher for workers of color, as is typically the case. And the numbers don’t include incarcerated and undocumented workers, who are integral members of the working class.
Unemployment and low wages
The capitalists benefit when there are millions more workers looking for work than there are jobs, because the competition tends to push wages downward. This means the rich pocket more money as profit.
What it means for the working class is that close to half, or by some surveys more than half, of all U.S. workers are living “paycheck to paycheck.” In other words, they have little to no money left over after their living expenses, and an unexpected catastrophe could push them over the edge. (econofact.org, Feb. 26)
However, under late-stage capitalism — capitalism at a dead end — a crisis of overproduction threatens profits. The capitalists depend on federal agencies, including the BLS, to keep them informed on the state of the economy, so they can figure out how to shift the burden of a recession or a depression onto the working class. The stock market plummeted after the jobs report came out.
While Trump blames the Democrats for rigging figures to make him look bad, the Democrats will view an economic downturn as an opportunity to recoup their losses in the next election. They will present the firing of McEntarfer as yet another assault on “our democracy.”
In truth, the economic hardship suffered by workers is a product of a system that puts profits before people — regardless of who sits in the White House or controls Congress and how well they follow the rules of conduct under capitalism.
The task of revolutionaries is to channel the anger over Trump’s attacks on the working class as well as unemployment, underemployment and low wages — which disproportionately impact oppressed workers and youth — in the direction of overthrowing the whole capitalist system.