The response rate of the Current Population Survey has dropped to around 64%, the lowest level ever. This is the data that the U.S. Department of Labor uses to calculate unemployment rates and other indicators, such as underemployment and multiple jobholders. Since 2009, this rate has decreased by about 30 percentage points and is now even lower than the levels during the 2020 pandemic. Fewer people than ever are responding to the survey that the Department of Labor uses to publish economic data. As a result, labor market estimates are based on increasingly incomplete and less reliable data than before. What is going on here?
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This is very concerning:
The response rate of the Current Population Survey has dropped to around 64%, the lowest level ever.
This is the data that the U.S. Department of Labor uses to calculate unemployment rates and other indicators, such as underemployment and multiple jobholders.
Since 2009, this rate has decreased by about 30 percentage points and is now even lower than the levels during the 2020 pandemic.
Fewer people than ever are responding to the survey that the Department of Labor uses to publish economic data.
As a result, labor market estimates are based on increasingly incomplete and less reliable data than before.
What is going on here?