How do the job reports work and why do they happen?

President Donald TrumpThe transition to the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) after weaker than expected July jobs and major revisions has raised questions about how the workforce agency in the US is changing.

Trump stopped BLS Commissioner Eric Mackenter on Friday and claims he “falsified jobs before the election.”

BLS announced that last month the US economy added 73,000 jobs, well below the profit of 110,000 jobs, calculated by LSEG Economists. He also made revisions that reduced employment in May and June by 258,000.

Despite the criticism of the President, revisions of Monthly job report Made by BLS are a standard statistical practice aimed at improving the accuracy of data, as more than the sample enter. Revisions are also inserted into the BLS study process to ensure the best possible data over time.

US growth in the US has cooled in July against the background of increasing economic uncertainty

In a video published earlier this year, BLS explained that American economy There were over 12.2 million business establishments with over 155.7 million employees as of June 2024. The current statistical survey of employment is associated with about 121,000 business and government agencies on a voluntary basis each month, representing 631,000 individual jobs – which BLS notes is one of the largest monthly studies in the world.

Here are some reasons why the Ministry of Labor should review the jobs.

Reversal

The data collection period varies between 10 and 16 days, although the average is 12 to 13 days, so some businesses may not be able to report within this period. For example, some respondents who pay employees monthly, instead of two weeks, may not be able to report their data before the deadline.

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Response percentages

The initial monthly digit of jobs is considered as a preliminary assessment, as the process is built in two revisions reported in the coming months as more data are collected. Reply ratios are increased for the first and second revision, as more businesses send their answers to be tables.

BLS explained in his video that from 2020 to 2023 the average collection rate for the first publication of a month employment levels is 68.3%. This figure increased to 89% for the second publication (or the first monthly audit) and up to 92.8% for the third publication (or second monthly audit).

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Error responding and sampling

Part of the reason there are two built -in monthly revisions is to give business time and agencies that did not report on time so that the first or second published estimates could respond to the study.

Respondents may also provide incorrect information that can later be corrected due to the presence of the first and second revision within BLS reporting processS As more samples are collected and reported in the revision process, it reduces unanswered mistakes and errors to improve data quality.

BLS also makes seasonal adjustments to its data based on the most recent month to make seasonal adjustments, not forecast. This requires seasonal adjustments to be made early reported. This process and the inclusion of new sample data over time allow the agency to reduce revisions and errors in annual data.

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Errors in response and reporting, as well as the birth and death of companies, accumulate monthly. To deal with this, the BLS goes through an annual comparative evaluation process to overturn its sample to more durable population data to prevent data from further.

BLS Benchmarks Counts Counts for March each year. The agency said in its last monthly job report that its preliminary indicator will be published in early September this year, which will be finalized in February 2026.