Institute for Compensation Studies

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, reflects on the effect of the government shutdown on the bureau’s data collection and reporting.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on how the bureau may deal with certain missing data now that the government shutdown is over.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, describes staffing challenges the bureau is facing as it re-opens after the government shutdown and which reports the bureau generally prioritizes.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, is mentioned as co-chair of the Friends of the BLS in an article with comments from the Friends of the BLS about issues at the bureau related to the recent government shutdown.

“There’s a benefit to us having this very large U.S. employer now paying its workers again. That’s going to help,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor, commenting on the economic implications of the government shutdown and the impact of reopening federal agencies.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, is quoted about the lack of economic data collection during the government shutdown.

Comments from Brian Dunn, director of professional programs at ILR’s Institute for Compensation Studies, about Elon Musk and Tesla’s stock value are shared in this article.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, shares the bureau’s definition of employment and describes how the bureau gathers unemployment data.

Brian Dunn, director of professional programs at ILR’s Institute for Compensation Studies, comments on yesterday’s approval by Tesla shareholders of a proposal about future compensation to Elon Musk.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on the likelihood of certain government reports ever being published, given the lack of data collected during the current government shutdown.

Brian Dunn, director of professional programs at ILR’s Institute for Compensation, comments on the reasonableness of Elon Musk’s compensation package.

“If policymakers build systems around data that can vanish overnight, that’s a real vulnerability for economic governance,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, commenting on the Federal Reserve’s need for reliable data when setting the benchmark interest rate.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, says time is running out for the government to publish the October Consumer Price Index report.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on the likelihood of the bureau releasing inflation data for October.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and research fellow at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, discusses a recent Gallup study about job quality.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, describes the difficulties of preparing the bureau’s data during the federal shutdown.

“This is when the data are most consequential,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, analyzing the importance of recent federal data in the calculation of the 2026 Consumer Price Index.

“They cannot go back to the past, so they will impute more,” says Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, about how staff recalled to the bureau will calculate the 2026 Consumer Price Index in the absence of data from October.

Diane Burton, director of ILR’s Institute for Compensation Studies, comments on the ease of finding new employment for independent contractors doing last-mile delivery for firms that have contracts with Amazon.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, provides expertise on how to use private data in the absence of a current federal jobs report.

In this article about how the 2026 Consumer Price Index will be calculated, information about the data used in that calculation is shared by Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, underscores the fundamental importance of federal data for accurately weighting private statistics.

In a discussion at the Cato Institute, Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on the importance of trustable statistical agencies, revisions to jobs numbers under the Obama administration, and more.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on the effect of missing data due to the federal government shutdown.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, discusses what the bureau can and cannot do when the federal government is shut down, and what that may mean for the publication of the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment announcement and for decision-making by the Federal Reserve.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on how the bureau’s missing report affects analysis about a possible recession: “to have [the data] be of lower quality or just unavailable, will make these decisions all that much more difficult,” she said.

“Without today’s jobs report and next week’s scheduled inflation release … the Federal Reserve, US treasury, financial markets, businesses and households will be flying blind,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, analyzing the absence of today’s jobs report.

“It’s a bad time to be missing data,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, about the absence of today’s jobs report from the bureau, due to the federal government shutdown.

This article includes information from a paper written by Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, about who uses the bureau’s statistics and for what purpose.

Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, comments on the effect of the government shutdown on the release of the bureau’s monthly jobs report and discusses other timely details relating to the bureau.