Former Economic chairs on the BLS firing

N. Gregory Mankiw and Cecilia Rouse, both former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers, who advised President George W. Bush and President Joe Biden, respectively, warn of the consequences of the BLS firing.

While no single piece of economic data is dispositive in a leader’s decision-making, each must be as accurate as possible to help guide their decisions. Recognizing this need, the federal government has over time created 13 statistical agencies. The BLS is one of the oldest, created in 1884 to collect data on many aspects of the economy, including the monthly employment report and retail and wholesale prices. Today, government and business leaders throughout the economy rely on this information to make sound decisions. These statistics shed light on the state of the labor market, trends and opportunities in business investment, and the size and health of our population.