Still, some warnings from financial writers have been ominous: Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, said the firing was “the most dangerous” thing the president had done and that it is unlikely we can now trust BLS data. Question: In wake of the Trump firing, can we still trust BLS data?

But like so much in President Donald Trump's second administration, this time is different. Trump has selected E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to be the next commissioner at the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President Trump's nominee to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni, suggested the possibility of suspending the bureau's monthly jobs report. Why it matters: It's one of the world's most fundamental pieces of data,