Press Releases

WASHINGTON -- Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) continue to press Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su for answers regarding the Biden-Harris administration’s botched release in August of job numbers that adjusted downward by 818,000 jobs. This historic revision made it clear that Bidenomics and the administration’s other radical policies are hurting American workers and businesses. 

Notably, the revision was released 30 minutes later than scheduled, and while the public waited for the release, some Wall Street firms got a head start as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the numbers to firms that called the agency, potentially giving them an unfair advantage.

In the letter, Foxx and Good write: “The Department of Labor (DOL) has once again ignored an oversight request from the Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) as part of its work to hold the federal government to the highest standards of accountability. On September 25, 2024, the Committee sent you an oversight letter requesting information regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) release of the 2024 Current Employment Statistics Preliminary Benchmark Revision (‘Job Numbers’). The Committee requested a response by October 9, but DOL has not provided a response to the letter. Since the initial request additional disturbing reports have surfaced in the press and the Committee is reupping its oversight inquiry on this matter.”

The letter continues: “[A] recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed more details about BLS’s actions on the day of the Job Numbers release on August 21. Information from the FOIA request detailed how BLS employees did not know of a technical problem with the release until they were inundated with calls and other communications about the problem.  Further, when it was clear there was a problem, BLS employees were apparently unaware of how to respond to public inquiries concerning the data and desperately sought guidance.”

In addition to reupping Foxx and Good’s questions from September 25, 2024, today’s letter requests that DOL:  

• Provide all information that DOL submitted in response to the FOIA request referenced in the September 20 Bloomberg article titled “BLS Took 20 Minutes to Realize the Public Couldn’t See Jobs Data.”
• Help the Committee understand how outside users were impacted by the Job Numbers incident by providing any written complaints received by DOL regarding the release of the Job Numbers on August 21. 

To read the full letter, click here.

Background

In March, news reports revealed a BLS economist shared nonpublic information with several Wall Street firms. 

On May 15, BLS accidentally loaded data files to its website 30 minutes prior to the scheduled release time of the consumer price index.

On August 21, while the public waited for the release of the job numbers, some Wall Street firms got a head start as BLS released the numbers to firms that called the agency, potentially giving them an unfair advantage. 

On August 26, Foxx and Good called out the Biden-Harris administration for exaggerating job growth when revised BLS numbers proved an overestimate of more than 800,000 jobs.

On September 25, to hold BLS accountable for its inability to ensure data is released uniformly and on time, Foxx and Good demanded answers from the Biden-Harris administration.