WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Joint Economic Committee Chairman David Schweikert released a brief entitled “Maintaining Reliability of America’s Data Collection Methods.” The brief outlines the methodology used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) when compiling its monthly employment reports. Since the beginning of the COVID 19 outbreak, BLS has faced significant challenges in gathering comprehensive information to produce the same level of accuracy in initial reports as those prior to 2020.

 
“Production of America’s economic data is both complex and vital to decision makers,” said Chairman Schweikert. “With the fall of response rates and changes in our economy it’s appropriate for the Joint Economic Committee to continue examining methods to improve future reliability.” 

This brief explains the challenges BLS is facing. Response rates dropped from about 60% before 2020 to roughly 45% the past two years, resulting in smaller sample sizes. This is likely having a significant impact on the quality of the employment reporting by BLS, resulting in larger gaps between the first and final estimations which has led to more notable corrections to initial reports.

 

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