Reliable Local Unemployment Estimates: A Challenge for Federal and State Cooperation

Monthly estimates of unemployment in thousands of counties, cities, and towns by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are not reliable. Congress requires BLS to provide local unemployment estimates for use by Federal agencies to allocate funds for jobs programs and other economic assistance to local areas. Potential error in estimating local unemployment cannot be measured. Where potential errors in statistics cannot be measured, amounts misallocated cannot be determined.