During the Bidementia administration I frequently pointed out that the monthly numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were constantly subject to major revisions, usually in a downward direction. I don’t know if things will get any better under the current administration, one would hope so. The revisions come not only from the Bureau itself, but other government organizations help. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank does its own analysis of job numbers, using more comprehensive data, including an analysis of state payrolls using unemployment compensation fund information. In a report released at the end of last week, the Philly Fed suggested that official job numbers for the thrid quarter of 2024 will again be revised downward, by around 100,000 jobs. Aside from the political impact, getting accurate numbers sooner is important for those trying to understand and manage economic and financial trends. Sometime before the end of March we should get a major revision from BLS itself. (Philly Fed Report)
