Duval Times

On August 27, 2024, Senator Rick Scott, alongside Senators Roger Marshall, Ted Budd, Marsha Blackburn, and Markwayne Mullin, issued a letter to Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su. The letter demands clarification following a report alleging that the Biden-Harris administration inaccurately reported over 800,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy within the past year.

Senator Scott has persistently criticized what he describes as misinformation from the Biden-Harris administration regarding economic conditions. He emphasizes the need for transparency in job reporting through his quarterly economic snapshots.

The letter addressed to Acting Secretary Su highlights concerns about "numerous downward jobs revisions published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) over the last two years." It references significant downward revisions including "a monthly 97,000 downward revision for January 2024," a "300,000 total downward revision" during BLS's annual 2023 benchmark review, and an "818,000 total downward revision for jobs created in the 12-month period through March 2024."

The senators argue that these discrepancies have misled both news outlets and policymakers into believing that job growth was more robust than it actually was. They assert that these errors have impacted public perception and policy decisions by bodies such as the Federal Reserve.

Furthermore, they express concern over how these misleading figures affect public trust: “Had news reporters and outlets received the revised job numbers first each month, reporting and public perception of the job market may have changed.” The letter also mentions a decrease of "510,000 full-time employed Americans from July 2023 to July 2024," which they believe should have been more accurately reported initially.

Asserting that this issue is critical with only seventy days until the presidential election, they state: “There should be no confusion when it comes to evaluating the health of our economy.” They contend that preliminary job numbers from the Biden-Harris Administration paint an overly optimistic picture contrary to actual conditions experienced by Americans.

The senators posed several questions seeking detailed explanations on why BLS has had repeated downward revisions and how many new jobs were genuinely created versus those recovered post-pandemic. They are particularly interested in understanding what percentage of new jobs were full-time versus part-time or government positions.

The letter concludes with a call for answers by September 9th to ensure transparency before upcoming elections: “It is imperative that the American people receive a fair and accurate accounting of the nation’s economic health.”