The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau. For a full statement opposing this move, read:
William Beach
239 posts
William Beach
@BeachWW453
Economist, former Commissioner of Labor Statistics, and Executive Director of the Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill.
Alexandria, VA
Joined April 2023
- This is such an important finding…BLS's first-release estimates of nonfarm payroll employment have gotten more, not less, accurate over time.
- BLS is taking a lot of heat for announcing that the CPS sample size will be reduced due to budgetary constraints. As the immediate past Commissioner at BLS, I'm here to tell you that BLS is not playing politics and that we are, indeed, losing the CPS because of poor funding and
- The big, downward preliminary revisions to non-farm employment (-818,000) announced this morning by BLS probably stem from overestimating the number of firms in the economy. Slowing as well as recovering economies often post challenges for BLS's "birth/death" model, which BLS
- For those who think the big revision to the BLS jobs numbers "leaked" and was meant to come out after the election, remember that BLS always announces its draft revisions in August and announced this year's date, August 21, many months ago. It is important to check your facts.
- Significant revisions are coming on February 7 to BLS's total employment and other household survey stats. These revisions stem from big revisions made to the way Census estimates immigrants. Those changes raised the population level in 2024 to 3.3 million over 2023. Thus, BLS
- This short video by the WSJ is an amazing explanation what happened inside last Friday's jobs report and the subsequent controversy surrounding the large revisions to May and June. Worth watching!
- A big win for the Bureau and for the Current Population Survey. Thanks for your invaluable help, Sara.Wow, just absolutely thrilled to see all the work with @EricaGroshen @BeachWW453 and too many others to tag in one tweet pay off. This is some of the best jobs day news I’ve seen in a while.
- Big downward jobs revisions and growth coming mainly from health care are two of the many problematic features of today's jobs report. Read my take on it here:
- The other financial shoe finally dropped: Moody’s downgrades US debt below AAA status. Congress should look in the mirror and make a pledge to fix our worsening fiscal condition.
- Thanks, Matt. My BLS price index colleagues never tire of telling that the Bureau's field economists always check the number, weight, and other physical characteristics of the products they survey each month for price changes. "Shrinkflation" is real, and BLS picks it up in theRegular reminder that "shrinkflation" is included in CPI calculations.
- Save the Current Population Survey! Erica Groshen and I (two former BLS Commissioners) and over 140 organizations ask Congress to plug today's CPS funding gap and support the survey's modernization. See Bloomberg for details...
- EPIC will publish my look at today's jobs report shortly. At this point let me say that the estimates, revisions, and, indeed, the whole process that we can see looks perfectly normal. What a testament to the professionalism of the BLS staff.
- This interview with David Wilcox...former Federal Reserve official, stunningly good economist, and the last chair of the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee...provides a truly strong case for protecting BLS and their data products.
