The Bureau of Labor Statistics Is Not the Problem
Losing highly reliable, accurate and transparent data on the health of the world’s largest economy would be perilous.
We’re now in dangerous territory.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images
For the first time, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been fired by the President of the United States for political reasons, launching the $30 trillion economy into uncharted and dangerous territory. It’s hard to overstate the peril that awaits.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles what are perhaps the country’s most important economic reports, including the monthly employment and inflation reports. The department’s commissioner is appointed by the president, but the BLS describes its work as “independent” and “non-partisan.” This impartiality is key to the public and market’s trust in the data, which influences the price of money not just in the US but around the world and is touted as “gold standard” for economic statistics.