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EconomyExplainerPast Article

Payrolls and the Household Survey

Employers and households can describe the same month differently. Both descriptions are in the release.

By Helen Voss, Rates Columnist

Washington1 min read

top-view photography of houses at daytime
top-view photography of houses at daytimePhoto by Tom Rumble on Unsplash

Nonfarm payrolls count jobs on employer forms. The household survey counts people, and it is where the unemployment rate comes from. A month can add payrolls and still show a higher unemployment rate if more people are looking for work, or if the two samples simply diverge.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes both in the same release, and the two often diverge. 'Jobs' is not a precise word. 'Payroll employment' and 'the unemployment rate' are.

Revisions apply with particular force to payrolls. The household rate is also estimated, and it moves in tenths. A tenth is the unit. Treating a tenth as a turning point is an interpretation.

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