Labor Inspector General Launches Probe Into BLS’s Data Collection Challenges

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General on Wednesday launched a probe into the data collection challenges faced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The letter stated that the review will focus on the issues faced by BLS with respect to collecting information for the producer price index (PPI) and consumer price index (CPI), the two closely watched inflation gauges. The review will also cover issues in relation to “collecting and reporting, including revising, monthly employment data,” according to the letter.

The internal watchdog initiated the probe after the BLS reported a reduction in its data collection for PPI and CPI indexes. The BLS issuing a “large downward revision of its estimate of new jobs in the monthly Employment Situation Report” was another reason cited by Assistant Inspector General for Audit Laura Nicolosi in the letter.

This follows the BLS's preliminary revision of job growth downward by 911,000 roles between April 2024 and March 2025. A final revision is scheduled for February 2026. While the data itself does not reflect the current labor market situation, it underscores that past job growth in the U.S. was not as strong as previously reported.

The downward payroll revision comes two months after President Donald Trump fired BLS’s then-commissioner Erika McEntarfer, following a downward revision in jobs numbers for May and June by 258,000.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities gained in Wednesday’s midday trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.45%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.28%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was up 0.28% at the time of writing.

Also See: US Mortgage Rates Decline To 11-Month Low As Treasury Yields Slip: Report

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