Labor Department Inspector General to Review Economic Data Collection and Reporting

The Labor Department’s Office of the Inspector General said Wednesday (Sept. 10) that it has begun a review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “challenges” in collecting and reporting economic data.

In a letter addressed to William J. Wiatrowski, acting commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Laura B. Nicolosi, assistant inspector general for audit, wrote that the review was triggered by the BLS’ announcement that it will reduce its data collection activities for the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index, and the agency’s recent “large downward revision” of its estimate of new jobs in the Employment Situation Report.

“Our focus will be on the challenges and related mitigating strategies for (1) collecting PPI and CPI data, and (2) collecting and reporting, including revising, monthly employment data,” Nicolosi wrote in the letter.

The Labor Department’s OIG is an independent inspector general that audits the department’s programs and operations for effectiveness, efficiency, economy and integrity, according to its web page.

CNBC reported Wednesday that President Donald Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August, alleging that her politics played a role in the agency’s weak monthly jobs report released on the same day.

The report also said that the Labor Department announced a revision to jobs data for the year ended in March that was the largest revision in more than two decades, with the figure being 911,000 jobs lower than the initial estimates.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that while payroll revisions are common, some recent ones have been larger than normal.

The report also said that the reduction in data collection for the CPI and the PPI was caused by a federal hiring freeze that limited the staff available for those activities.

When the latest revised payroll data was released Tuesday (Sept. 9), Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement that the revision heightened doubts about the data being published by the BLS.

“We are committed to finding solutions to these problems, including by modernizing to improve transparency and deliver more accurate and timely data for American businesses and workers,” Chavez-DeRemer said.