Previous | Session Pages | Next
Session 5: US Employment Statistics
Presentations
Mary Bowler, Employment Measures from the BLS (PDF, 43 K)
Richard Yamarone, How to Find and Use Economic Statistics (PDF, 1.77 MB)
Michael Chriszt, Regional Employment Statistics (PDF, 202 K)
Links of Interest
Speakers
Katharine Abraham
former Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner
Katharine G. Abraham is Professor of Survey Methodology and Affiliate Professor of Economics with the Joint Program for Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland, and formerly Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for two four-year terms, from 1993 through 2001, Dr. Abraham instituted improvements in consumer, producer, and international price statistics, and employment and wage statistics. She laid the groundwork for the first U.S. Government survey of time use, and she established the only joint statistical agency advisory body, the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee. During the public debate on the Consumer Price Index, Dr. Abraham steered a careful course of studying shortcomings and making revisions based on objective research. She expanded coverage of the prices of services in the Producer Price Index; instituted improvements in the Current Employment Statistics, including the substitution of a probability sample for the quota sample; accelerated delivery of employment and wage statistics; and took steps toward expanding coverage of wages and salaries in those programs.
Her research interests include the study of the labor market and economic measurement. She is co-author of the book Job Security in America: Lessons From Germany, co-editor of the book New Developments in the Labor Market: Toward a New Institutional Paradigm, and contributor of numerous articles to professional journals and edited collections. She has testified frequently before Congress.
Mary Bowler
Economist
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Mary Bowler attended Grinnell College and the American University. She has been an Economist for 17 years at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, working on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (ES-202 program) and the Current Population (household) Survey.
Michael Chriszt
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Michael Chriszt is the director of International and Regional Analysis in the Latin America Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In addition to directing the work of the LARG, he monitors and reports on economic, financial, and political developments in foreign economies and the states of the Sixth District. He holds degrees in diplomacy and foreign affairs and history, and a master’s degree in political economy from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He joined the bank in 1989.
Richard Yamarone
Senior Vice President & Director of Economic Research
Argus Research Corp
URL: www.argusresearchgroup.com
Richard Yamarone, senior vice president and director of economic research at Argus Research Corp., has over two decades of experience researching, analyzing, and forecasting domestic and international economic trends. He has also worked for international banks and domestic money centers and has taught courses on macroeconomics and economic indicators at several colleges and institutions. He is the author of ‘The Trader’s Guide to Key Economic Indicators,’ Bloomberg Press, April 2004. He makes frequent appearances on national and business television and radio shows, and is one of the most quoted economists on Wall Street today.
In addition to establishing the firm’s economic and interest rate forecasts, as well as its estimates for economic indicators, currencies, commodity prices, and Federal Reserve operations, Mr. Yamarone sits on Argus Research’s Investment Policy Committee and he frequently advises policymakers with respect to conditions prior to FOMC meetings. He is also part of a small contingent of economists invited to Washington, D.C. to meet administration officials and discuss economic endeavors.
Mr. Yamarone is a past president of the Downtown Economists Club of New York City, and a member in good standing of the National Association of Business Economists, the American Economic Association, the New York State Economic Association and the NYU Moneymarketeers.
