All E.J. Antoni’s Labor Statistics

Does Trump’s nominee for BLS have a plan to make data more reliable?

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"The response rate for the BLS establishment survey, which is used for the monthly jobs report, has fallen to 43% from 61% over the last decade. Response rates for the household survey that feeds into the unemployment and labor force participation rates have declined to 68% from 88%. Inflation reports may also be affected by falling response rates in calculating shelter prices (14 percentage-point decline over a decade) and weights for items in the consumer price index (28 point decline)."

"Another risk is that survey responders may not be representative. Small businesses are typically less likely and later to respond, so initial monthly jobs reports may not reflect changes in their hiring and layoffs."

"Another problem: A funding shortage has caused BLS to stop collecting some granular data that can illuminate economic changes."

"Criticizing the BLS as Mr. Antoni has from the back benches is easy, but what is his plan to make the data more reliable?"