The Labor Department's internal watchdog said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into how jobs and inflation data is collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

The probe by the department's Office of Inspector General comes as the BLS is under pressure from the Trump administration, which has pointed to recent downward revisions to employment data to contend that the agency's data cannot be trusted.

President Donald Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August, accusing her of being motivated by politics hours after her agency released a weak monthly jobs report.

The inspector general is a nonpolitical appointee whose office is independently staffed and legally insulated from interference by the Labor secretary or other political appointees. The office is

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