Over 800,000 U.S. Jobs Wiped Off the Books in Annual Labor Statistics Revision

The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than initially reported from March 2023 to March 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is a larger revision than the typical annual adjustment, which usually increases or decreases the previous year's employment levels by only 0.1 percent. Laura Tancredi / Pexels

Economists were anticipating a significant annual revision. Forecasts from Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase predicted declines ranging from 360,000 to 1 million jobs compared to previous estimates. Anna Nekrashevich / Pexels

The large downward revision could raise concerns that the Federal Reserve may be behind on cutting interest rates. Mikhail Nilov / Pexels

The Fed has kept rates at a 23-year high for over a year, aiming to bring inflation in line with its 2 percent target. U.S. Government / Wikimedia

Inflation did finally dip below 3 percent in July 2023 for the first time since the pandemic, and the Fed is expected to cut rates at its September meeting. Karolina Kaboompics / Pexels

The revision comes as Vice President Harris works to craft a winning economic message, after President Biden struggled with attacks on his handling of the economy and inflation, which peaked at 9 percent in June 2022. Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY

The Fed is an independent body and does not take direction on interest rates from the president or other elected officials, but inflation has become a frequent line of attack from former President Trump and Republicans ahead of the upcoming election. Adam Vander Kooy/Special to the Daily / USA TODAY NETWORK