Labor force projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the economy contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter.
However, the latest projections show the contraction to be even worse than that.
According to the BLS, the country’s labor force shrank by 0,2% in March and by 0%, to a projected 6.1 million.
Even before the data, the government had been projecting a 0.6% contraction in the quarter.
The BLS also projected a 2.3% increase in the labor-force participation rate, which is the number of people who actively seek work.
The government’s official data has been revised down, to 2.4%, after a survey of government workers found the figure had gone up by 0% in May.
It is likely that the BSS revision is due to a delay in the latest surveys, but the government’s revised numbers are expected to be revised down further.
Also read:The labour force participation rate is calculated by dividing the number who work and the number that do not work by the number whose unemployment rate is below 5%.
The BJS also reported that employment grew by a more modest 0.3%.
The Bureau of Statistics revised down its estimate of the unemployment rate in the second quarter, to 6.4%.
In the fourth, the BSA revised its estimates, and the BSE revised down the estimates, again suggesting the contraction in labor force participation is deeper than previously thought.
