COPAFS

Bottom Line: "None of these revisions represents a departure from past practice. They reflect how a transparent,
rules-based statistical system absorbs delayed information during periods of rapid change."

The Friends of BLS have released an explanation for the causes for the annual revisions of the BLS Jobs Numbers.

www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2026...

The Friends of BLS have released a statement on the nomination of Brett Matsumoto for BLS Commissioner which outlines criteria useful in evaluation of any nominee for this position.

www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2026...

Friends of BLS has 2 new statements

1. On @brettmatsumoto.bsky.social’s Nomination for @usbls.bsky.social Commissioner

2. Annual Revisions for BLS Jobs Numbers Expected To Be Downward: The Causes Explained

Two former commishs, appointees of Pres. Obama & Trump, co-chair Friends of BLS. Detail ⬇️

The Trump Administration has nominated Brett Matsumoto as the next BLS Commissioner. He has been a research economist at BLS since 2015 in the Division of Price and Index Number Research and recently served on the CEA.

The Day Federal Data Went Dark: A Year of Monitoring and Action January 31, 2025, is infamous as the day thousands of federal datasets and webpages went dark. While many of these resources have since been restored–often after being scrubbed of references to gender, DEI, and climate–they continue to face significant risks. In the webinar, we mark the one-year anniversary of this takedown to discuss the current state of federal data and recognize the immense amount of work that has been done to defend these public resources. Leaders from the data community will share insights on monitoring tools they have developed and the actions being taken to safeguard essential federal data. This webinar is cohosted by dataindex.us and the Association of Public Data Users. 0:00 Introduction 2:53 EssentialData.US x Federation of American Scientists 6:51 American Statistical Association 10:31 CDC Data Project 14:17 Friends of BLS 17:50 Public Environmental Data Partners 21:24 The Leadership Conference Education Fund 26:26 Movement Advancement Project 30:37 Population Association of America 35:05 Democracy 2025 40:42 Data Rescue Project 44:16 Population Reference Bureau 47:14 Association of Public Data Users 50:10 dataindex.us 55:19 Conclusion

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our webinar, The Day Federal Data Went Dark: A Year of Monitoring and Action. We are grateful to be in a community with so many amazing organizations.

You can watch the recording to learn about more than a dozen efforts to monitor and safeguard federal data.

NEW: The White House's Office of Management and Budget has a new chief statistician overseeing the Census Bureau & other federal statistical agencies, according to StatsPolicy.gov. Stuart Levenbach has replaced Mark Calabria, according to the website's "About Us" page
statspolicy.gov/about/#members

Reducing max contact attempts to 2, would have dramatically reduced response to data collection efforts at Census.

New statement from Friends of BLS:
"Some controversy...erupted on Dec. 30 following release of a highly informative Q&A that addressed how [BLS] estimated the Nov. 2025 CPI.
We..find no reason to see the hand of politics anywhere in the Bureau’s CPI work..."
www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (July, August, and September), according to the initial estimate released by BEA today. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.

www.bea.gov

Assessing and Monitoring the Health of the Federal Statistical Agencies The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians, the “Big Tent for Statistics.

Nations Data at Risk Project Site

bit.ly/FedStatHealth

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The Nation's Data at Risk: 2025 Report. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join the ASA "Federal Statistics Health" project team for their release of "The Nation's Data at Risk: 2025 Report"! The report updates the team's assessment of the health of the federal statistical a...

The @asa-scipol.bsky.social will release "The Nation's Data at Risk: 2025 Report" tomorrow, Dec 10 at 7AM EST. The report will be available at the project website (link in comments). ASA will also host a webinar on the report tomorrow at 10AM EST.

amstat.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Hard disagree. The official BLS jobs numbers are still the most reliable data we have, and it's not close. And there's no way the Administration has (yet) fiddled with its data. I promise to let you know at the first whiff of interference.

U.S. Birth Rate Trends: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications for American Families Consider joining us on Wednesday, December 10, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in 2075 Rayburn House Office Building for ice cream and engaging presentations about U.S. fertility trends and related policies. An expert panel of leading social scientists will discuss national and international birth rate trends and evidence on the effects of policy incentives, such as tax credits and paid family leave, in impacting an individual’s decision to start a family. The discussion is particularly timely given the Trump Administration’s interest in encouraging higher birth rates nationwide. Speakers: Dr. Karen Benjamin Guzzo, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Dr. Melissa Kearney, University of Notre Dame Dr. Jennifer Sciubba, Population Reference Bureau

Looking forward to participating in this Congressional Briefing on U.S. birth rates with @econmsk.bsky.social & @prbdata.bsky.social's Jennifer Sciubba next week, sponsored by @popassocamerica.bsky.social.

If you're in the DC area, join us! RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Friends of BLS letter to Congressional approps

"Bureau’s data releases affect the nation’s economy significantly & it is paramount that they remain accurate, timely, & relevant.... request that the Bureau receive the allocation determined by the House..."
static1.squarespace.com/static/5bedb...

Agenda: copafs.org/event-calend...

COPAFS Quarterly Meeting - Dec 5, 2025 Join us for a lively discussion at the COPAFS Quarterly Meeting, where federal data will be the topic of the day.

There is still time to Register for the COPAFS Quarterly Meeting on Dec 5. We will begin the day at 9:30AM.

www.eventbrite.com/e/copafs-qua...

Revised news release dates following the 2025 lapse in appropriations Revised news release dates following the 2025 lapse in appropriations

Revised Release Dates for BLS Data Products.

www.bls.gov/bls/2025-lap...

The 2026 Privacy and Public Policy Conf. will be held on Feb 9 & 10 at Gtown Univ. The prog comm is now accepting submissions for presenters thru Dec 15. Privacy experts, researchers, data stewards, data practitioners, and public policymakers are all welcome!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

U.S. Birth Rate Trends: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications for American Families Please join us for an engaging presentations about U.S. fertility trends and related policies. An expert panel of leading social scientists will discuss national and international birth rate trends ...

PAA is hosting a Congressional Briefing on Dec 10 in 2075 Rayburn. The briefing is entitled "US Birth Rate Trends: Patterns Drivers and Implications for American Families." And yes, ice cream will be made available.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Revised news release dates following the 2025 lapse in appropriations Revised news release dates following the 2025 lapse in appropriations

Breaking news: The SEPTEMBER JOBS REPORT comes out on THURSDAY., Nov. 20.

BLS will announce revised news release dates on this page as they become available.

#econsky @aaronsojourner.org

www.bls.gov/bls/2025-lap...

2025 Government Shutdown FAQs on BLS Data — The Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics The Friends of BLS  The 2025 Government Shutdown and BLS Data: Questions & Answers How will the government shutdown, which may be over by the time you read this, affect BLS data? F...

The #FriendsofBLS has posted FAQs which explain what is likely to happen with reagrd to BLS data collection and releases. both during and after the shutdown.

www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

Friends of BLS FY26 Endorsement Letter Individual Sign-on Form November xx, 2025 The Honorable Susan Collins, Chair Senate Appropriations Committee Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Tom Cole, Chair House Appropriations Committee Washington, DC 20515 The Honorab...

Sign-on form for Individuals.

forms.gle/LQ32g5uYb6jT...

Friends of BLS FY26 Endorsement Letter Organizational Sign-on Form November xx, 2025 The Honorable Susan Collins, Chair Senate Appropriations Committee Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Tom Cole, Chair House Appropriations Committee Washington, DC 20515 The Honora...

The #FriendsofBLS are seeking organizational and individual support for their FY26 BLS Endorsement Letter which asks for no less than the House mark of $714M for the Bureau. Link to orginizational sign-on below; individual sign-on form in comments.

forms.gle/z9RacEBDAbEY...

🚨It's finally here!🚨
AAPOR's Taskforce on 2024 Pre-Election Polling report is out!

Full report: /https://aapor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AAPOR-Task-Force-on-2024-Pre-Election-Polling_Report.pdf

Executive summary: aapor.org/wp-content/u...

On Oct 23, the #FriendsofBLS hosted a webinar featuring @ericagroshen.bsky.social, @erikamcentarfer.bsky.social and Bill Beach giving an update on BLS and #FriendsofBLS activities as well as issuing a call to action.

www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

Dont forget to register for the #FriendsofBLS webinar this Thursday at 12p!

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Friends of BLS Member Webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Friends of BLS Member Webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

The #FriendsofBLS will hold a webinar on Oct 23 at noon. Former Commissioners Erica Groshen, William Beach, and Erika McEntarfer will offer updates, describe strategies, and offer a menu of concrete ways for interested members to engage with Friends of BLS.

us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Great opinion piece in #thehill: 'Now is not the time to stop measuring food insecurity'.

"By not collecting data, we will lack a systematic understanding of the size and distribution of food insecurity in 2025 and efforts to address the need will be less effective."

thehill.com/opinion/fina...

September 2025 CPI Release Rescheduled September 2025 CPI Release Rescheduled

#BLS announced this morning that the September 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released at 8:30AM on Friday, Oct 24. No other releases will be scheduled until the federal government shutdown is over.

www.bls.gov/bls/092025-c...