The Daily Signal The Daily Signal Presents “The “Signal Sitdown - Former BLS Nominee EJ Antoni Tells All About His Nomination Fight
Oct 4, 2025
E.J. Antoni, Chief Economist at The Heritage Foundation and former BLS nominee, shares the journey of his unexpected nomination withdrawal. He discusses the pressing need for reforms at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, highlighting declining survey response rates that undermine economic data accuracy. Antoni emphasizes using private data sources for modernization and reflects on President Trump’s advice about honesty during his Senate meetings. He also touches on the political challenges he faced and his commitment to advocating for change at Heritage.
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BLS Data Reliability Crisis
- BLS data quality has steadily worsened as survey response rates fell, leaving estimates based on tiny samples.
- Antoni warns that surveying <1% of businesses leads to massive, repeated errors like huge jobs revisions.
Modernize CPI With Private Data
- Use public-private data partnerships to replace slow, error-prone methods with real-time retail price feeds.
- Contract with major retailers and apps to feed continuous CPI price data instead of secret shoppers three times monthly.
Leverage Payroll Firms For Jobs Data
- Integrate payroll firms' raw data (e.g., ADP, Paychex) to vastly expand job-sample sizes monthly.
- Process those records to produce far more accurate employment estimates than tiny government samples.