U.S. Department of Labor Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics
JAN 16 2020

Washington, D.C. 20212

 

Dear Bureau Chiefs,

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the gold-standard of accurate, objective, relevant,
timely, and accessible statistical data. BLS is charged with the security of key economic data
and, as Commissioner, it is my obligation to do everything possible to protect the integrity of our
data, as it is collected, analyzed, and distributed. Economic data series, including the
Employment Situation, Consumer Price Index, and Producer Price Index, have signi?cant
commercial value and may affect the movement of commodity and ?nancial markets upon
release.

BLS, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), and the Of?ce of Inspector General
(OIG) of the Department of Labor (DOL) have all raised concerns regarding the security of
economic data stemming from news organizations? pre-release access known as ?lock-ups.?

The Of?ce of Inspector General (OIG) report 17-14-001-03-315, dated July 14, 2014
states that the lock-up
?unintentionally creates an unfair competitive advantage for certain news organizations and their
clients?:

Pre-release access of DOL-generated economic data is intended to serve the general public
by ensuring that news reports about the data are accurate. To that end, the media are given
access to the data in advance of the public release to facilitate their ability to analyze and
ask questions about the data as they prepare their news stories. However, the intended
purpose of ensuring accurate news reports must be weighed against the inequitable trading
advantage that a lock-up can potentially create. Several news organizations that participate
in the DOL press lock-up are able to pro?t from their presence in the lock-up by selling, to
traders, high speed data feeds of economic data formatted for computerized algorithmic
trading. Because these news organizations have pre-release access, they are able to pre-
load the data allowing their clients to get this information faster than the general public,
which has to wait to download the data after it gets posted to the Department of Labor
websites.

The OIG memorandum recommends that BLS and ETA:

. implement a strategy designed to eliminate any competitive advantage that news
organizations present in the lock-up and/or their clients may have; or, absent a viable
solution, consider discontinuing the use of the press lock-up that provides news
organizations pre-release access.

Real-time information from government websites and releases is more accessible to the general
public than ever before. However, unlike some media organizations with computer access in the
current lock?up, the general public does not have up to 30 minutes before the of?cial release time
to digest the data or to take actions that may lag behind transmissions following the lock up.

Further, developments in high-speed algorithmic trading technology now give a notable
competitive advantage to market participants who have even a few microseconds head start.

In light of the OIG recommendations, the following lock-up procedures will go into effect on
March 1, 2020.

I Credentialed press will continue to be allowed into the lock-up rooms 30 minutes before
release times, following existing security protocols.

I A new policy is lock-up rooms will be free from all electronic devices.

- BLS and/or ETA staff will be present in the lock-up rooms, will provide paper copies of
releases and related material, and will add a new pen and pad brie?ng attributable to a
BLS or ETA source.

I Lock-up procedures will continue with television media escorted and held at their camera
stations until the reporting embargo is lifted.

I- At release times, the reporting embargo will be lifted and media may exit the lock?up
room to ?le stories as has been the case.

0 At release times, BLS and ETA will continue to distribute official news releases through
various dissemination methods, such as the DOL or BLS websites, Twitter feeds, and e-
mail subscription lists.

These updated procedures will strengthen the security of our data and offer the general public
equitable and timely access. I appreciate your continued interest in the release of economic data
and should you have any questions, please contact DOL Of?ce of Public Affairs Deputy
Assistant Secretary Mike Trupo at (202) 693-4676.

Sincerely,

WILLIA . EACH
Commissioner