WisBusiness: Feds respond to Walker admin on monthly job estimates

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration praised the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics after its acting commissioner said changes are being studied to monthly job estimates for states.

Walker administration officials have repeatedly dismissed the monthly estimates as inaccurate, and Workforce Secretary Reggie Newson wrote to BLS last week urging the agency to reconsider its methodology.

Acting Commissioner John Galvin wrote in a letter to Newson dated Tuesday that the bureau is currently studying the possibility of benchmarking monthly jobs estimates to third quarter employment statistics instead of annual benchmarks — something he called a “top priority” for the federal-state Current Employment Statistics Policy Council.

“We encourage and stand ready to assist the BLS in making changes that will result in more accurate, reliable labor market data to help employers, job seekers and other individuals make well-informed economic decisions,” Newson said. “I am glad to hear that such changes are not only being studied, but are likely to be made in time for next year’s annual update to the data series.”

Walker added that while Newson’s work “may help monthly job statistics become more accurate for our entire nation,” his administration would “continue to track job growth by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which is widely regarded as much more accurate than the CES.”

See the BLS letter

See the DWD statement

See the Walker statement