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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Official US Economic Data Getting Less Reliable?
President Donald Trump's federal hiring freeze has forced the Bureau of Labor Statistics to cut back on collecting consumer price information. Economists have raised concerns that key data on inflation and other important measures of the economy will become less accurate because of Trump's policies. Earlier, the Trump administration disbanded expert panels that advised the BLS, raising further concerns about the quality of economic data.A key government agency has cut back on the amount of data it collects, raising concerns among experts about the accuracy of the information used to track inflation, unemployment, and other facets of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said this week it had cut back on the price surveys it uses to determine the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The agency said it cut back sample collection across the country and stopped data collection entirely in Buffalo, New York, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah. "These actions have minimal impact on the overall all-items CPI, but they may increase the volatility of subnational or item-specific indexes," the BLS said in a statement. "BLS makes reductions when current resources can no longer support the collection effort." Any problems with the inflation data could be widely felt across the economy. The inflation rate is closely watched by policymakers at the Federal Reserve who set the nation's monetary policy; by bond traders who determine the price of 10-year treasurys; and by major companies who use the information to make business decisions. Many federal benefits, including SNAP food aid and Social Security payments, are directly tied to the Consumer Price BLS is one of the federal agencies affected by President Donald Trump's freeze on hiring federal employees, which was instituted shortly after he took office. An internal BLS report said staffing shortages were the reason for cutting back data collection, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing an email the agency sent to economists. Trump has requested further cuts to the agency. His budget proposal would cut the BLS budget by 8% in 2026 from 2025 levels, if approved by Congress. 'The CPI temporarily reduced the number of outlets and quotes it attempted to collect due to a staffing shortage in certain CPI cities,' beginning in April, the email read, according to the Journal. 'These procedures will be kept in place until the hiring freeze is lifted, and additional staff can be hired and trained.'The cutbacks forced the BLS to use less hard data and more guesswork to produce the inflation data for April, the Journal reported. To measure the inflation rate, the BLS collects about 100,000 prices each month, with employees across the country visiting stores, making phone calls, or going online to check prices. About two-thirds of the data in the survey comes from in-person visits. Experts look to the BLS's massive surveys as the "gold standard" of economic addition to cutting back on its consumer price survey, the BLS said it will stop monitoring wholesale prices in 34 different industries including cookware, greeting cards, toys, and power tools. That data is used to create the Producer Price cutbacks raised alarms about the reliability of BLS data, according to a report by Bloomberg.'The reduced number of price quotes will likely reduce the reliability of the CPI as a measure of inflation and increase the volatility in the monthly CPI prints,' UBS economists led by Alan Detmeister said in a report obtained by Bloomberg. The cutback on data collection is just the latest red flag about the accuracy of the Trump administration's economic statistics. Jed Kolko, former Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Department of Commerce, wrote a blog post in April detailing several major threats to public trust in government statistics, including budget cuts. In March, Trump disbanded two outside advisory panels that helped the BLS produce its statistics. Kolko noted that expertise will be hard to replace.A survey of academic economists in March by the Chicago Booth School of Business showed that experts overwhelmingly believed the staff cutbacks at statistical agencies and the elimination of the advisory panels would lead to a "substantial reduction in the reliability of government economic data." Read the original article on Investopedia
BBC News
18-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Breckland Council sells Barnham Broom resort back to its founder
A luxury resort in Norfolk has been sold back to its founder by a local Council, which spent £7m on Barnham Broom Hotel, Spa & Golf Club, near Norwich, in 2007, has agreed a £6.9m deal with Colin said that despite making a loss on the sale price, the business had made a profit of more than £2.7m for the authority during its period of leader Sam Chapman-Allen said: "The figures show just what a good investment the golf club has been for this council and our residents." However, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, £7m in 2007 is the equivalent of more than £11m today, based on the Consumer Price authority had faced criticism over the purchase of the golf club, and there had long been speculation over its council spent £15,000 on legal advice to prevent commercial details being made public, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Bothway said: "I'm delighted that we have now bought back the freehold and can recombine this with our operating business."I'd like to thank the council for being steadfast in its commitment to maintain our landlord and tenant relationship over a long period." Chapman-Allen said: "The steady stream of reliable income over nearly 20 years has played a big factor in helping Breckland maintain a good financial position compared with our peers and has enabled us to keep the pressure off local taxpayers as much as possible."The rent brought in by this and our other investments has played an important role in enabling us to go above and beyond in the services we provide."He said the profits had helped the council support people facing isolation, loneliness, mental health issues, poverty and domestic abuse, and he added that the proceeds of the sale were being invested in temporary accommodation in the district. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
