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President Donald Trump has nominated Brett Matsumoto, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to lead the agency responsible for collecting some of the U.S. government’s most important economic data.
The president announced his long-awaited selection for the role on Friday night, describing Matsumoto as a “brilliant, distinguished and credible economist who will restore greatness to the Bureau of Labor Statistics”.
“I am confident that Brett has the expertise to immediately fix the long history of issues at BLS on behalf of the American people,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform.
Matsumoto’s choice, whose confirmation is subject to Senate approval, draws a line under a period of turmoil at the agency that began in August when Trump fired then-Commissioner Erica McEnterfer after a bleak jobs report that he said was “rigged” against her.
Trump’s initial choice to replace him, E.J. Antony, withdrew when it became clear that the chief economist at the right-wing Heritage Foundation would struggle for confirmation by senators. Antony was a major critic of the BLS whom economists feared lacked sufficient experience and would reduce the credibility of the agency’s data.
Matsumoto, who has spent nearly a decade as a research economist at the BLS, appears to be a less controversial choice.
“I suspect this is a good alternative to President Trump that most economists would support,” said Omair Sharif, an economist at Inflation Insights.
“He has a wealth of experience with the agency. He is a smart, skilled research economist who understands the nuances of data, especially with respect to inflation,” Sharif said.
The announcement came on the same day that the President announced former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Wersh as his choice to lead the US central bank after months of speculation.
BLS and Matsumoto did not respond to requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump planned to nominate a BLS veteran to the role.
The agency employs about 2,000 people responsible for producing data reports that policymakers and global investors rely on to assess the health of the world’s largest economy.
This includes the monthly jobs report and the Consumer Price Index, which is used to determine everything from setting U.S. pension payments to Fed policy.
Matsumoto will take the helm at a time of significant stress for the agency, which has grappled with declining survey response rates and resource cuts that have reduced the strength of its reporting.
He will rejoin BLS after spending the past year on leave as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He also spent time at CEA during Trump’s first term.
Matsumoto holds a PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware. His research at BLS focused on measuring consumer prices.
