The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has signed an £8 million deal to recruit temporary workers in response to declining employment data quality. The agency aims to address criticisms regarding its labour force survey, which is essential for economic policymakers. With participation rates languishing at around 20 percent, far below pre-pandemic levels, the ONS has turned to staffing firms to hire additional interviewers for face-to-face surveys. Economists warn that this data inadequacy compromises the Bank of England's decision-making, particularly as they prepare for an important monetary policy meeting.
The ONS's new agreement with Randstad aims to recruit 148 temporary workers to address persistent data quality issues with the labour force survey.
This recruitment effort is crucial as economists criticize the ONS's labour force survey for providing data that is deemed 'virtually unusable'.
The temporary hires will conduct face-to-face interviews to boost response rates, which have significantly dropped since the pandemic.
Concerns over the reliability of employment data have direct implications for the Bank of England's monetary policy decisions.
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