Job Market Reality Check: BLS Set to Erase Up to a Million Jobs from 2023-2024 Estimates

20 August 2024

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to release preliminary benchmark revisions that could significantly reduce the estimated job growth for the year ending March 2024. Economists from major financial institutions predict a downward revision of between 360,000 to potentially 1 million jobs, which would be the largest adjustment in 15 years. This revision suggests that the labor market may have been cooling more rapidly and for a longer period than initially thought, potentially influencing the Federal Reserve’s decisions on interest rate cuts. The news could impact Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech at Jackson Hole and shape the central bank’s approach to balancing inflation control with maintaining full employment.

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