Economics
U.S. Government Acts to Reduce Distortion in Jobless-Claims Data
- Labor Department changes seasonal-adjustment process next week
- Pandemic spurred large gaps in adjusted, unadjusted numbers
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The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday it’s changing how it adjusts weekly jobless-claims figures for seasonal swings after the pandemic’s surge in unemployment led to an unusually large divergence between adjusted and unadjusted figures.
Unadjusted jobless-claims figures experience major fluctuations around holidays such as Christmas and other annual events like summer auto-factory shutdowns, when companies add and lay off large numbers of workers. The Labor Department uses a process called seasonal adjustment to smooth the figures for these anticipated changes.