Job Numbers for Nerds (and Good Reporters)

As has been widely reported, the July job numbers came in somewhat weaker than expected, with job growth of just 113,000. This is the fourth consecutive month in which job growth has hovered near 100,000. However, the actual picture may be somewhat worse than the official data show. The reason is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) may be imputing too many jobs into the survey for new firms that are not included in their sample.