US Government Reportedly Overstated 2023 Job Growth Numbers

The federal government reportedly overstated the figure representing job growth in the U.S. in 2023.

In 2023, the U.S. economy added a little over 3 million jobs. As the Biden administration touts such a figure ahead of the November 2024 election, the jobs numbers fail to include that of new employment in the U.S., according to Liberty Nation.

Liberty Nation pointed out that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) report once every three months. This report is one of the most accurate in measuring the number of jobs added in America, compared to the farm payroll report.

“However, like the headachy caffeine-deprived professional, the QCEW does not offer the financial markets and politicians the same jolt,” Liberty Nation wrote. “Armchair and professional economists, be it in the Xverse or on Fox Business, enjoy it because it reflects potentially a more realistic snapshot of the job market.”

At the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, statisticians closely monitor the QCEW numbers and use them as a guide for the regional central bank’s quarterly report, known as “Early Benchmarks for All 50 States and the District of Columbia.” Its latest report concluded that job growth was drastically overstated in 2023.

Data from BLS showed that payrolls grew by 1.5% through December 2023. Yet, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said the figure was realistically 0.5%. In economic terms, one can either mislead, distort or deceive others by using percentages.

The federal government’s use of sum values indicated that by December 2023, payrolls stood at 157.304 million jobs. Data from QCEW showed that there were 156.504 million, representing a stark contrast from the figure shared by the government. Instead of there being 230,000 average monthly job increases, there were 130,000.

“Our early benchmark analysis indicates that total payroll jobs fell in Delaware and New Jersey, and were essentially unchanged in Pennsylvania, from March through June 2022. These estimates are in contrast to the substantial growth indicated by the current monthly estimates,” Philadelphia’s Federal Reserve Bank wrote in its report.

In December 2022, the regional central bank pointed out that BLS overstated that year’s payroll by over 1 million.