Congress Urged to Boost Funding for US Labor Survey

  • Seeks $20 million over 2024 budget for data on ‘life support’
  • Congress included additional funds in short-term spending bill

The Current Population Survey is the primary source of data on the US labor market.

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg
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A group led by former Bureau of Labor Statistics officials is urging Congress to provide an additional $20 million for the agency to bolster a critical labor-market survey they say is “on budgetary life support.”

More than 100 businesses and organizations — including Harvard University, Brookings Institution and Haver Analytics — signed a letter Tuesday to the House and Senate Appropriations committees asking for funds to maintain the sample size of the BLS’s Current Population Survey — which is at risk of being cut — and to support steps to modernize data collection techniques.