President Donald Trump says he "did the right thing" by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures, following a revised report that showed hiring slowed and was weaker in April and May than previously reported.

Trump's public frustrations with the economics and statistics agency appear to date back to his 2016 presidential campaign. "Don't believe those phony numbers," then-candidate Trump said in his New Hampshire victory speech during his first campaign for the White House.