Most economists say that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a nonpolitical agency staffed by people obsessed with getting the numbers right. The only political appointee is the commissioner, who doesn’t see the data until it’s finalized, two days before it is issued to the public.

Stocks closed with losses Monday as Wall Street braces for the first federal inflation report released after President Trump ousted the head of the agency responsible for producing it. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 201 points,