The Department of Labor’s inspector general’s office said on Wednesday that it was “initiating a review of the challenges that the Bureau of Labor Statistics encounters collecting and reporting closely watched economic data.”
The review comes weeks after President Trump fired the head of the statistics agency, Erika McEntarfer, following an unexpectedly weak monthly jobs report. He has since nominated E.J. Antoni, a conservative economist, to replace her. Mr. Antoni has not been confirmed by the Senate.
The inspector general’s office announced the review in a memo addressed to the statistics agency’s acting commissioner, William J. Wiatrowski. The memo cites recent cuts to data collection related to inflation statistics, as well as recent large downward revisions to jobs figures.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has long acknowledged that falling survey response rates and other trends have made it harder to measure the state of the U.S. economy. But experts inside and outside the agency say its efforts to address those challenges have been stymied by a lack of resources.
Ben Casselman is the chief economics correspondent for The Times. He has reported on the economy for nearly 20 years.
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