What are the two major methodologies used for obtaining US employment figures (hint: one is the ‘household survey’)? Please explain the main ways in which these two approaches differ.
The “jobs number” comes out every month, and Wall Street waits with bated breath. In fact, the first Friday morning on the month is a pretty jumpy time in the stock market on many occasions, as that is when the Non-Farms Payroll (“NFP”) print is released. Are the NFP figures revised, and if so, how often? Why is this important?
Why is it important to have more than one methodology of calculating a figure like jobs counts, or relatedly, unemployment?
