Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress, alongside 140 organizations, signed onto a letter urging the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees to provide an additional $20.6 million above fiscal year 2024 levels, in any final fiscal year 2025 appropriations, to preserve the strength of a national economic indicator, the Current Population Survey (CPS). In total, the letter asks Congress to fund the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at $650.6 million in congressional appropriations and $68 million, which may be expended from the Employment Security Administration account in the Unemployment Trust Fund for fiscal year 2025
The letter is co-authored by two former BLS commissioners, who served under President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden. Dr. Erica L. Groshen, 14th BLS commissioner, and Dr. William Beach, 15th BLS commissioner, are working together across party lines to amplify the urgent need to adequately fund the BLS and its CPS.
The letter explains how, despite the survey’s invaluable data, including the monthly unemployment rate, the CPS is under threat of cuts to its sample size due to inadequate resources. To preserve the accuracy and integrity of the monthly unemployment rate and associated measures of labor market activity, additional funding is necessary to modernize the data collection effectively.
The letter is available here.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].