U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he was nominating economist E.J. Antoni as the new Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, 10 days after firing the agency's previous leader following a weak scorecard of the job market,

E.J. Antoni, a staunch critic of the agency, had emerged in recent days as a favorite candidate among some influential Trump advisors, including Stephen K. Bannon. He has questioned the legitimacy of the agency’s data over the past year.