What to know about the Bureau of Labor Statistics and jobs report targeted by Trump
Why it matters: The monthly jobs report is one of the most important pieces of economic data, and revisions are made to reflect the most accurate job numbers.
"The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making," according to its website.
Catch up quick: Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday after a weak jobs report. He accused the agency of erroneously reporting jobs data after making an expected revision.
"Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar," he said Monday on Truth Social.
BLS deputy commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting commissioner during the search for a replacement, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X.
What is the agency?
The big picture: The BLS is the "principal fact-finding agency" in U.S. labor economics and statistics.
It collects, calculates, analyzes and publishes labor market data used by employers, researchers and government organizations.
The BLS conducts surveys to collect information about the economy and society.
Flashback: The BLS was established in 1884 within the Department of Interior.
The bureau became an independent department in 1888 and was incorporated into the the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903.
In 1913, the bureau was transferred to the newly created Department of Labor.
How does the jobs report work?
State of play: The BLS monthly labor report is an update on the country's employment situation based on surveys collected from businesses and family households, according to the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
The household survey collects information about labor force size, employment, unemployment rate, participation rate and demographic details.
The business survey collects changes in payrolls, hours, earnings and industry/geographic details.
Driving the news: The report is released on the first Friday of every month at 8:30 am Eastern Time.
Why is the report revised?
Behind the scenes: National employment statistics are revised on a monthly and annual basis.
The estimates are considered preliminary when first published because many businesses do not have their payroll data ready to report by the scheduled data release date, per the BLS.
The unemployment rate is not revised monthly.
Zoom in: "For a given month, BLS publishes second preliminary estimates 1 month after the initial release and final sample-based estimates 2 months after the initial release," the agency said.
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