Senators Push BLS for Better AI Data as Funding Falls 13.8%

The push from senators comes amid a broader debate over AI's impact on jobs. Tech leaders like Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman have made apocalyptic predictions, while studies from Stanford, Brookings, the Yale Budget Lab, the European Investment Bank, and Goldman Sachs offer more moderate assessments. Most of these studies rely heavily on BLS data, including the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, the Current Population Survey, and the Department of Labor's O*NET task database. The BLS itself acknowledges its projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change, and the Census Bureau only added AI questions to its Business Trends and Outlook Survey in November 2025. The BLS has stated the Current Population Survey needs modernization, and in April 2026 outlined a plan that includes an internet self-response instrument and parallel surveys. However, funding constraints prevent testing at the scale necessary to ensure accuracy. The stakes are high: without better data, the labor market will remain impossible to measure accurately for the foreseeable future, leaving policymakers and businesses to make decisions in the dark. The outcome hinges on whether Congress appropriates the additional $60 million a year the BLS says it needs.