“If we don’t know what the quality of the data will be. Well, that’s uncertainty. That’s risky,” says Columbia finance professor Laura Veldkamp.
Its underperformance in recent years could be a sign of weakness in the labor market
The good news? The U.S. economy created 850,000 jobs in June. The bad news? There are still 7 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic.
But it could take more than a year to get back to pre-pandemic levels.
The news has fueled a perception that officials are out to inflate employment figures for a record 8.7 million graduates potentially entering a worsening jobs market.
Some people haven’t applied for unemployment because they don’t think they qualify, and others can’t get through the application process.
The report tracks how many jobs are created and what the unemployment rate is, among other things.
Bureau of Labor Statistics annual benchmark revisions find job creation was weaker than originally reported last year.
U.S. employers slowed their hiring in July but still added a solid 164,000 jobs to an economy that appears poised to extend its decade-long expansion.
The unemployment rate is hovering around a 50-year low, but some companies are still shedding jobs.
