A Senate committee will convene next Wednesday to review the nomination of Brett Matsumoto for commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to congressional schedules.
The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will examine Matsumoto’s qualifications for the federal post. The White House selected Matsumoto to fill the position after President Donald Trump removed Erika McEntarfer from the role in August.
The president had alleged that McEntarfer altered employment data from July without providing supporting evidence. That monthly jobs report revealed slower-than-anticipated job creation and significant downward adjustments to employment figures from the previous two months.
Before settling on Matsumoto, Trump had originally chosen conservative economist E.J. Antoni, who had been critical of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, that nomination was pulled back when it faced resistance from Republican lawmakers. Economic analysts in the private sector had raised concerns about the reliability of bureau statistics after McEntarfer’s dismissal.
Matsumoto earned his doctorate in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and specializes in inflation analysis. He began working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015 and is currently taking time away from that position to serve with the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
