The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) recent revisions to its employment reports has been noticed by Republicans, who have questioned the former’s credibility and requested answers from the same.
BLS executed a 97,000 downward revision for its January 2024 employment report, a 300,000 total downward revision as part of the BLS’s annual 2023 benchmark review, and, most recently, an 818,000 downward revision in its annual March 2024 report.
US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), along with other Republican Senators, sent a letter to BLS Secretary Julie Su demanding BLS explain how it calculates employment figures and why it initially failed to do so adequately.
The Senators claim the BLS’ revisions undermine its credibility as the original employment figures depicted a healthier economy than what is actually the case.
BLS’ employment figures revision is “the second worst revision in U.S. history, and one of many data points accentuating the harm that Bidenomics has brought to the American people,” said the Senators.
Moreover, the Senators claim the revisions have political and economic impacts given the election is months away while economic institutions, such as the Federal Reserve, rely on BLS data when making interest-rate decisions.
“There should be no confusion when it comes to evaluating the health of our economy,” continued the Senators. “Regularly publishing rosy job estimates that do not represent reality is blatantly dishonest and misleads the American people.”
BLS’ revisions, concludes the letter, imply BLS is complicit in embellishing the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies to attract voters ahead of the 2024 elections.
‘Bideonomics,’ the term associated with the Biden-Harris administration’s economic agenda, has been largely endorsed by Democrat Presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
One of Harris’ more controversial ideas are price controls on supermarket items.
Harris claimed she would introduce ‘the first ever federal ban on Price gouging on food.’
Such a policy would entail the US national government imposing price caps on food vendors.
Scott decried Harris’ idea, expounding price controls are “a plan we know has NEVER WORKED anywhere it’s been tried. Just ask anyone in Venezuela.”
