US Jobs Household Survey Size to Be Cut Due to Budget Constraints

US Jobs Household Survey Size to Be Cut Due to Budget Constraints


By Alexandre Tanzi
June 7, 2024 at 1:47 PM EDT

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reducing the sample size of the household survey in the monthly jobs report due to budget constraints, the head of the agency said at a conference Friday.

BLS will cut the size by 5,000 households to a total of 55,000 a month starting in 2025, Commissioner Erika McEntarfer said at the quarterly meeting of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics. She noted there’s a “real risk” of a decline in quality, especially as response rates have declined substantially in recent years.

“Survey costs are increasing faster than the budget. In the past we have managed, but now sample cuts are needed,” McEntarfer said. That will impact small states in particular, she said.

The BLS’s monthly jobs report is composed of two surveys: one of businesses that generates the payrolls and wage data, and another smaller one of households used to produce the unemployment rate.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-07/us-jobs-household-survey-size-to-be-cut-amid-budget-constraints

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