These misleading numbers create a false impression for the public and cast doubt on the validity of the Bureau’s accuracy and legitimacy. Had news reporters and outlets received the revised job numbers first each month, reporting and public perception of the job market may have changed. Given the woeful record of the Bureau over the last two years, it is time for the BLS to accurately assess labor participation at the outset and admit the fact that the number of full-time employed Americans decreased by 510,000 from July 2023 to July 2024.
As we approach the presidential election in 70 days, the state of the economy is one of the major issues on Americans’ minds. There should be no confusion when it comes to evaluating the health of our economy. Regularly publishing rosy job estimates that do not represent reality is blatantly dishonest and misleads the American people, contributing to the fact that less than 25 percent of Americans trust their government to do what is right most of the time. The Biden-Harris Administration’s policies have crippled the American working class. Instead of honestly reporting the record, these preliminary job numbers represent the Administration’s desire to claim economic success when Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities.
To that end, we demand that you provide answers in writing to the following questions:
- Why has BLS repeatedly revised downward its monthly job estimates over the last two years?
- Why has BLS repeatedly revised downward its annual benchmark revision for each of the last two years?
- Of the jobs created under the Biden-Harris Administration, how many were simply recouped from the COVID-19 pandemic job losses?
- Of new jobs added that were not recouped from the COVID-19 pandemic, what percentage were full-time jobs versus part-time jobs?
- Of new jobs added that were not recouped from the COVID-19 pandemic, what percentage are jobs within the federal government?
- What percentage of new jobs in 2024 have been full-time rather than part-time?
- What percentage of the revised job numbers are going to foreign workers?
- What in the BLS’s methodology is malfunctioning so badly that it must revise its job numbers downward by almost a million jobs?
- Are there any protections in place guarding these important statistics against influence from presidential administrations that have an interest in having their BLS report favorable job outcomes?
In November, the American people will have a choice to continue the failed policies of the Biden-Harris Administration or pursue a pro-worker agenda which will not need to be revised down to show how bad conditions have truly become. We request a response to this letter by September 9, 2024. It is imperative that the American people receive a fair and accurate accounting of the nation’s economic health.
