The Census Bureau conducts the phone calls that lead to the unemployment rate calculation.
Posted by Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Platypus Economics with Justin WolfersAug 28, 2026
The claim is supported: the BLS and CRS sources state that the Current Population Survey, which produces the unemployment rate, is conducted by the Census Bureau, and the CRS source says interviewers reach households by phone or in person.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… It puts the front page of New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reliably on the bureau. It means every financial and economics journalist is dealing with the bureau. The Census Bureau actually does the phone calls that lead to the unemployment rate. The bureau pays them to do that, so actually a lot of the real work's going on at the Census Bureau. I love the fact that you love the Census Bureau. Megan, do you want to, you know, say a few words about your favorite? What is your love letter to the Census Bureau? …
Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The BLS overview states that the Current Population Survey, the household survey behind the unemployment rate, is a monthly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[1]
Supports. CRS material says the unemployment rate is calculated from Current Population Survey results conducted by the Census Bureau, with interviewers contacting individuals over the phone or in person.[2]
Supports. An OpenStax/CUNY courseware source says Census Bureau employees call about 15,000 household clusters each month as part of the survey that produces the unemployment rate.[3]
Supports. A PBS NewsHour piece quoting a BLS official says data collection is done by Census Bureau partners who interview households for the monthly unemployment measure.[5]
Context. Census.gov describes the Current Population Survey as a joint effort of the Census Bureau and BLS, which is consistent with the Bureau's role in data collection.[4]
Sources
5 sources: 4 primary, 1 tier 2
- 1Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Surveybls.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Introduction to U.S. Economy: Unemploymentcongress.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Principles of Macroeconomics 2e, Unemployment, How Economists Define and Compute Unemployment Rateopened.cuny.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Current Population Survey (CPS) - Census.govcensus.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 5Why economists take out their own trash before the monthly jobs reportpbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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