The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is facing data collection difficulties due to staff shortages.

For much of the past year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) faced staff shortages due to the federal government's hiring freeze, impacting its price data collection and forcing the agency to rely more heavily on less precise estimation methods for some data imputation. In February, the BLS used so-called "different-cell imputation" in 40% of cases requiring estimation, compared to just 9% a year earlier. However, the situation may be improving: the BLS has now posted job openings on its website for price data collection positions in several regions across the country. (Jinshi)