Conspiracy Theorists Found a New Boogeyman: Payroll Data
Efforts to improve the accuracy of employment statistics have stoked claims they are being manipulated.
Figures don’t lie, but they do get revised.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Every month, more than 100,000 employers report their payroll numbers to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some transmit the data directly from internal payroll systems, others answer questions by computer or phone. This is the basis of the monthly nonfarm payroll employment statistic due out on Friday morning. The unemployment rate released at the same time comes from a different monthly survey of 60,000 households.
Once announced, the unemployment rate for that month stays unchanged. The nonfarm payrolls number, on the other hand, will be revised again and again and again.