Unlocked: How and why the Bureau of Labor Statistics revises U.S. job numbers

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly publishes a suite of reports and datasets that businesses, journalists, government agencies and the public use to understand the health of the U.S. economy. The monthly Employment Situation — sometimes called the jobs report — is one of the most widely covered.

Specifically, reporters widely cover the preliminary estimates of job gains or losses across the economy, which BLS publishes on the first Friday of each month. They’re a quick-hit indicator of whether and how the economy is growing. But less coverage goes to the revisions that follow those preliminary estimates, which are also released with each jobs report.

In this JR tip sheet, Clark Merrefield explains why it’s not unusual for preliminary and final employment estimates to differ (sometimes substantially), and provides two charts showing the history of these data revisions. Read the full tip sheet at journalistsresource.org. 

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