Economic Statistics:  BLS's Business, Labor Advisory Panels Expire Pending DOL Restructuring Plan

Reprinted with permission from the Daily Labor Report®, Bureau of National Affairs

By Larry Swisher
 
The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has proposed restructuring its two, 60-year-old advisory committees to broaden representation beyond business and organized labor, meanwhile allowing the panels' charters to expire, the BLS acting commissioner told BNA Oct. 1. Established by BLS in 1947 and renewed regularly by the secretary of labor, the Business Research Advisory Council and the Labor Research Advisory Council usually meet twice a year to advise the agency on technical problems and provide perspectives on its programs in relation to the needs of their organizations or members.

BLS officials recently made their proposal to the office of Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and are in negotiations with various DOL officials on a possible new structure, said BLS Acting Commissioner Philip Rones.

"We are proposing to DOL to replace the existing structure with a structure that includes business, labor, and additional customers of our product line," Rones said in an interview.

The business advisory group last met in April and planned to meet again in October, said economist Maurine Haver, president of Haver Analytics who chaired the group. In late August or early September, however, panel members learned from Rones in a letter that the group was no longer in existence, Haver said.

"Frankly, we're disappointed not to be meeting in October, because we had a number of issues we wanted to discuss with the bureau," Haver said.

Although the labor advisory council has been out of existence for more than two years, members have never received a restructuring proposal from BLS or DOL, according to Ronald Blackwell, chief economist at the AFL-CIO, who served on it. "It was interrupted in 2005 by the Bush administration," he said.

"There's a longstanding need for the input of the business and labor communities into the BLS, which we rely on as a nonpolitical source of information" about jobs, prices, and wages, Blackwell said.

Members of the two advisory councils, who are unpaid, are nominated by the membership committees of each group and designated by the BLS commissioner under authorization of the secretary of labor.

The business group consists of individuals and representatives from corporations, such as General Motors and Manpower, and broad-based business organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business.

The labor committee included economists, researchers, and other officials from many unions.
The BLS has removed information from its Web site about both the business and labor councils.

Revamp Discussed for Years

When the committees' charters expired, BLS "either had to re-up" for two more years--the length of a current federal advisory committee charter--or commence a revamping that top agency officials for several years have believed is needed, Rones said. "Our main concern is that by having representatives only of business and organized labor, we didn't include the broad range of our constituents," Rones said.

BLS could replace the business and labor committees with new ones or perhaps create a single advisory group, Haver said.

However, Rones declined to disclose the proposal, saying it is under discussion at DOL and is considered an internal matter.

When a final proposal is reached, it will be published in the Federal Register, he said.
Until the groups are reconstituted, BLS is not receiving input exclusively from those who use its closely watched economic data tracking employment, wages, benefits, and inflation, including the monthly employment and unemployment report, consumer price index, and employment costs index.
"I think it's unfortunate that the [business advisory council] is being terminated," Haver said. "But I understand they may have budget and other concerns and need to review things."
Although BLS has budget problems, that was not the reason for the change, Rones said.
"We hope not to go too long" without an advisory group, he said. "In no way is it our intent not to have advisory committees," Rones said, adding that the goal is to improve them.

Business Panel Paid Own Expenses

"My biggest concern is how long it is going to be before there's a substitute" for the defunct business advisory council,Haver said.

A similar committee, the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee, made up largely of academic researchers, continues to meet twice a year with BLS and two other agencies, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau.

While FESAC's meetings last only one day and cover three agencies, each of the BLS business advisory group's sessions lasted two days, Haver said, adding that BLS received helpful advice and input that did not cost BLS much in the way of direct expenses.

Members of the panel paid their own expenses, including air fare and lodging, and some had purchased nonrefundable airline tickets for the canceled October meeting.

In addition to providing advice sought by BLS, the council provided an opportunity for data users to raise concerns or problems about changes in BLS programs that affected data on their industries.

One member who worked in the pharmaceutical industry alerted the business council and BLS to a major inadequacy in the sample of prescription drug manufacturers it was surveying to measure wholesale price changes for its producer price index, Haver said.

 Regarding potential discrepancies in BLS's employment figures, the council in October had hoped to discuss BLS's findings into the explanation for its large annual revisions to payroll employment data for 2006 and recent years, Haver said. In February, BLS's annual benchmark revision along with other technical changes increased the number of jobs added during 2006 and 2005 by a total of 965,000 jobs.

"We looked forward to hearing the results of their research," she said.