[20190528]IN11124_解读就业报告.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Disentangling the Jobs Report Jeffrey M. Stupak Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy May 28, 2019 The Jobs Report The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLSs) monthly Employment Situation Summarymore commonly known as the jobs reportcan from time to time report seemingly contradictory figures. For example, the jobs report for April 2019 reports that the unemployment rate decreased from 3.8% to 3.6%, while the employment level fell by 103,000 people. The April jobs report also includes an alternative measure of employment in which employment rose by 263,000 individuals. How can these seemingly contradictory figures be reported side by side? The explanation lies in two quirks in the jobs report: (1) the use of two different surveys in the same report, and (2) the definitions and construction of the unemployment rate. This Insight discusses both issues below. A Combination of Two Surveys First, the statistics included in the jobs report are actually the product of two different surveys: the household survey and the establishment survey. There are numerous conceptual and methodological differences between these surveys,