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BLS Needs Culture Revamp After Botched US Releases, Review Finds

The U.S. Department building is seen in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. Photographer: Erin Scott/Bloomberg (Erin Scott/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is “not sufficiently focused” on how it disseminates key economic data and a revamp of the agency’s culture is required, according to a report commissioned after a series of botched releases.

The Labor Department, which oversees the BLS, ordered the independent review to examine “procedures and practices for the equitable and timely provision of data to the public.” The findings of the 60-day external review were published Tuesday and included a number of recommendations to improve processes and communications.

“We have already begun the work of turning the team’s recommendations into a roadmap to recommit our agency to data security and equitable access to data,” BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer said on a call Tuesday.

The agency commissioned a team of experts — including officials from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Census Bureau as well as the Labor Department — to make recommendations. It also included two members of the public — Maurine Haver of Haver Analytics and Jonathan Schwabish of the Urban Institute.

New Training

Among the suggestions, the group said the BLS should develop a culture that encourages coordination across all divisions as well as communications with all users. They also recommended coming up with new training protocols and communicating earlier and more frequently with users about any potential changes to survey methodologies.

The report was commissioned after several incidents around data releases raised questions about how some of the world’s most sensitive economic information gets disseminated. In August, the BLS provided at least three Wall Street firms with highly anticipated figures on revisions to US payrolls — all while the official release was delayed on its website.

The episode not only sparked outrage among investors but also on Capitol Hill, where key Senate Republicans charged the BLS with its “continued failures” in producing crucial economic data and demanded answers to questions around its data release protocols.

Other incidents earlier in the year raised similar concerns. In May, the BLS inadvertently published inflation data a half hour before the scheduled release time, and separately a BLS economist disclosed internal data to an exclusive group of analysts he described as “super users.”

‘Isolated Events’

The report said the three incidents were “isolated events caused by human error,” and none of them were related to the quality or accuracy of BLS data. Related to the early release of the inflation data, the agency said it now only allows federal employees to disseminate the figures rather than contractors.

To this point, the BLS has taken corrective actions on only a few of the recommendations. It has updated standards for accountability and implemented mandatory data release training for all employees. It’s also testing a modernized news release system.

Separately, the team flagged a number of potential problems with BLS staff working remotely, including introducing delays into releases processes and breakdowns in communications. The incoming Trump administration is looking to require federal workers to come back to the office in contrast with the current White House.

The Labor Department is conducting its own audit into how the agency handles data disclosures.

--With assistance from Maria Clara Cobo, Alex Tanzi and Matthew Boesler.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.