The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is set to release its annual job market report on February 7, which includes significant revisions to its estimates. The changes are expected to add millions of people to the workforce and impact unemployment rates.
Goldman Sachs forecasts an estimated 2.3 million new jobs in the labor force, while BLS data shows a decrease of 818,000 jobs between March 2023 and March 2024. However, these revisions will also change how historical job creation data is calculated, making it harder to compare metrics over time.
Economists at Wells Fargo Securities say that despite these changes, the overall story of the labor market remains unchanged. The job market has slowed down since its post-pandemic peak but has not crashed. With high interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve, inflation control remains a top priority.
The BLS is incorporating new data from the latest census, which includes revised numbers for immigrants, into its methodology to provide more accurate estimates of the workforce and unemployment rates. The changes will likely drive up these metrics slightly, but economists expect it won’t significantly alter the recent picture of the labor market.
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/why-the-u-s-is-about-to-gain-2-3-million-workers-on-paper-8787376