# Why the BLS Matters with Former Commissioner Erica Groshen Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919/why-the-bls-matters-with-former-commissioner-erica-groshen Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919/why-the-bls-matters-with-former-commissioner-erica-groshen.md Podcast: [The PolicyViz Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919) Published: 2025-09-08T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://zencastr.com/z/d3vz0ePp Audio file: https://redirect.zencastr.com/r/episode/68bca3a528a95227eb4642e5/size/67182380/audio-files/5a0b59c06ebaa2000f259f8d/68c8125a-d46c-41d5-9e5e-4558c34a885e.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919/episodes/why-the-bls-matters-with-former-commissioner-erica-groshen Duration seconds: 2799 ## Resource This is a very special episode of the PolicyViz Podcast. I'm joined by Erica Groshen, former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to talk about the latest jobs report and what the numbers really mean for the state of the economy, including why revisions are an essential part of getting the data right. Dr. Groshen explains how the BLS produces its trusted statistics, the commissioner's role, and what signals she watches for to spot potential recessions. We also discuss the importance of protecting federal statistical agencies, ensuring trust in their data, and what the future might hold for the BLS. It's a fascinating conversation that connects technical detail with big-picture implications. Keywords: data, data visualization, fPolicyViz Podcast, Erica Groshen, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, jobs report, labor market, economic data, employment situation, job growth, job losses, unemployment rate, data revisions, economic indicators, recession signals, federal statistics, data trust, labor economics Subscribe to the PolicyViz Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Become a patron of the PolicyViz Podcast [https://patreon.com/policyviz?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] for as little as a buck a month Check out the BLS website [https://www.bls.gov/] for more data! Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jschwabish/?hl=en], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanschwabish/], Substack [https://jschwabish.substack.com/], Twitter [https://twitter.com/jschwabish], Website [https://policyviz.com/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/JonSchwabish] Email: jon@policyviz.com [jschwabish@gmail.com] ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919/episodes/why-the-bls-matters-with-former-commissioner-erica-groshen/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-policyviz-podcast-1096919/why-the-bls-matters-with-former-commissioner-erica-groshen.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.