President Donald Trump said on Jan. 30 that he nominated economist Brett Matsumoto to serve as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Matsumoto previously worked as a supervisory research economist at the BLS and is currently a senior economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to the president.
“Brett Matsumoto is a Brilliant, Reputable, and Trusted Economist who will restore GREATNESS to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
Matsumoto is a senior economist and “on leave as a research economist” at the BLS, according to the White House’s website. He earned a PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina, and his research focuses on economic measurement.
Trump said that Matsumoto also served at the Council of Economic Advisers during his first term in office.
In his post announcing Matsumoto’s nomination, Trump said that the BLS “has been FAILING American Businesses, Policymakers, and Families by releasing VERY inaccurate numbers” over the years.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer congratulated Matsumoto in a social media post, saying that Trump made “an excellent decision” in nominating him to lead the BLS.
“Brett has the skills and expertise needed to provide the American people with fair and accurate economic data they can rely on,” Chavez-DeRemer said on X.
The BLS is an agency within the Labor Department that collects, analyzes, and publishes data on labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy.
The bureau has faced increased scrutiny over its data in recent months. In September 2025, the BLS revised down its jobs numbers for the 12-month period ending in March 2025 by 911,000 jobs. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the massive downward revisions showed “the BLS is broken.”
“This is exactly why we need new leadership to restore trust and confidence in the BLS’s data on behalf of the financial markets, businesses, policymakers, and families that rely on this data to make major decisions,” Leavitt said in a September 2025 statement.