Data Collection and Revision - The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases monthly jobs reports, which include initial job numbers and revisions to the previous three months [1] - The Employment Situation report consists of two surveys: the household survey (calculating the unemployment rate) and the establishment survey (calculating nonfarm payroll employment) [3][4] - The establishment survey is sent to 650,000 workplaces, but only about 60% respond by the initial report release; this increases to over 90% after three months, leading to revisions [4][5] - BLS revises the numbers twice a year with unemployment insurance data and even 10 years later with census data [7] Factors Influencing Revisions - Large revisions are often attributed to economic shifts, such as coming out of or moving into a slow period [8] - Discrepancies between the current year and the previous year's employment patterns can also lead to significant revisions [9] - A specific example is the suspicion that schools are not hiring as much as they did last year due to the depletion of COVID-era funding [10] Data Integrity and Trust - Experts believe that political influence is not a factor in the revisions [10] - Eroding trust in the statistical system is detrimental to companies' decision-making processes and the country's infrastructure [12][13] - Improving the initial report completion rate is seen as the best way to reduce drastic revisions [11]