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Was the Biden administration's revision of a jobs report fraud?

By Tom Kertscher
NO

The government revises job numbers annually as more information becomes available.

Former President Donald Trump falsely stated in Milwaukee that the Biden administration “fraudulently claimed” to have created 818,000 jobs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Aug. 21, 2024, “in accordance with usual practice,” its estimate of the annual “benchmark revision” of jobs numbers. The revision will occur in February 2025.

The estimate said the number of jobs added in the year ending March 31, 2024, was 818,000 fewer than had been previously shown in monthly reports.

Monthly figures come from employer surveys; the annual revision comes from unemployment records.

“Economists across the ideological spectrum” said the revision was not manipulation, PolitiFact reported.

The revision of 0.5% was higher than the 0.1% average and the highest since 2009.

Under Trump, there was a 0.3% downward adjustment of 514,000 jobs for the year ending March 31, 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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