President Donald Trump’s acolytes are scrambling to rationalize his decision to fire the nation’s top labor statistician after she delivered a bruising reality check. Trump was confronted with a weak jobs report Friday showing just 73,

Without evidence, Trump called the data "rigged" and implied that BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer manipulated the numbers "for political purposes."

Federal government employment fell again in July, with a loss of 12,000 jobs, according to the report. The sector has lost 84,000 jobs since the start of the year. The report notes that employees who are on paid leave or are receiving ongoing severance pay are considered employed, and so are not included in this tally.