The Bureau of Labor Statistics took a deep breath last week, squared its shoulders and owned up to a gigantic mistake: its employment index has been cockeyed for at least two years. In its last estimate, made in June, the bureau had put U.S. employment (nonagricultural) at 43,733,000, which, it now turns out, was nearly 1,000,000 too high. In 1948, BLS had been wrong by 930,000, in 1947 by 599,000.
BLS's troubles can be blamed on World War II. The bureau keeps a file of 120,000 companies which it uses as a sample for measuring...
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