– When you see jobs reports and other employment data, what period of time does this reporting actually reflect?

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When we see all these jobs numbers – job openings, unemployment rate and claims, hiring, non-farm payroll, etc. – what period of time do these reports reflect?

I know these reports lag and do not capture the present state of the economy. For instance, recessions are often declared 3-6 months after they actually happen.

How much of a lag do these reports typically reflect – 4 weeks? 3 months? 6 months?

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5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

If you read the actual jobs report, it’s always really clear exactly what it covers. The most recent one can be located here https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

The important thing to note. Reports get revised after they get issued. So that report covered September and was issued on October 6th. But if you read the last paragraph they include some revisions to July and August. This happens with basically every jobs report. There’s the initial data, then the revisions that follow.

I’m 100% certain that in the October jobs report there will be a revision to the September numbers.

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