# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

---

- [Podcasts](/podcasts)
- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
- [Video Series](/search/category/video-series)
- [Events](/multimedia/events)

[ 

Download Episode 

](https://feeds.acast.com/public/streams/643947a1309d10001195d3e7/episodes/68d59f84abe298be1f84f6d6.mp3)Subscribe:

[ 

Apple Podcasts 

](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unintended-consequences/id1684573879) [ 

Spotify 

](https://open.spotify.com/show/693Xy6u85pJX42IPsUK7cE) 

Unintended Consequences • October 9, 2025 

# A Food Fight at the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

President Trump recently fired the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), claiming that the downward revision of employment numbers was evidence of some kind of conspiracy to make the administration look bad. Paul and Peter unpack what it is that the BLS actually does, why it’s constantly revising its estimates, and the potential negative consequences of politicizing economic data collection.

In conjunction with [*Regulation* Fall 2025 edition](https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2025)

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Paul Matzko](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Paul%20Matzko.jpg?itok=CSzwMD2U)](/people/paul-matzko) 

##### [Paul Matzko](/people/paul-matzko)

Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

[![Peter Van Doren](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Peter%20Van%20Doren.jpg?itok=H1lphT-7)](/people/peter-van-doren) 

##### [Peter Van Doren](/people/peter-van-doren)

Senior Fellow and Editor of *Regulation*

[ 

](mailto:pvandoren@cato.org)