GAO Warns 10-Year Slide in Jobs Survey Responses Risks U.S. Employment Data

1 articles · Updated · legis1.com · Aug 24

A June 2026 GAO report said steadily falling response rates in the household and employer surveys from October 2015 to September 2025 are putting the monthly U.S. jobs report's data quality at risk.
Fourteen stakeholders told GAO the report still generally meets users' needs, but occasional large revisions can weaken its value for real-time decisions by the Fed, businesses and policymakers.
GAO also said BLS lost regular outside feedback after three advisory committees were eliminated in 2025 and has no plan to close that gap, one of three recommendations sent to the Labor Department.
BLS agreed with two recommendations and plans a nonresponse-bias study by end-2026 plus a paper on statistical-error methods, while funding constraints could delay an online household-survey response option meant to lift participation.
The warning matters because the Employment Situation report underpins trillion-dollar rate, hiring and policy decisions, and weaker survey participation raises the risk that respondents no longer represent the broader workforce.