High Country Times

Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good are pressing for answers from Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su regarding the Biden-Harris administration's release of job numbers in August. The figures were adjusted downward by 818,000 jobs, a revision that Foxx and Good argue demonstrates the negative impact of current economic policies on American workers and businesses. The release was delayed by 30 minutes, during which some Wall Street firms received early access to the data by contacting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), potentially gaining an unfair advantage.

Foxx and Good stated in their letter: "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." They emphasized that despite a request for information by October 9, no response had been received from DOL. The letter highlighted new reports emerging since their initial inquiry.

They further explained: "[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."

The letter seeks additional information from DOL, including responses submitted following a FOIA request mentioned in a Bloomberg article titled “BLS Took 20 Minutes to Realize the Public Couldn’t See Jobs Data.” It also requests any written complaints received regarding how outside users were affected by this incident.

In March, reports indicated that a BLS economist had shared nonpublic information with Wall Street firms. On May 15, there was another incident where data files were mistakenly uploaded early. On August 26, Foxx and Good criticized the administration for overstating job growth after revised numbers showed an overestimate exceeding 800,000 jobs.

Foxx and Good continue to seek accountability from BLS for ensuring timely and uniform data releases.