Bloomberg Surveillance · Friday, August 7, 2026
Claudia Sahm emphasizes that the Federal Reserve collects a wealth of qualitative data, including worker interviews, which provides insights into economic mechanisms beneath the aggregate numbers. She suggests this data is crucial for understanding the lived experiences of workers, which can differ from stable aggregate labor market data.
“And I think one thing that the FED has is just a wealth of qualitative data talking to business leaders, talking to people workers, and putting together in terms of analysis.”
“We spend a lot of times on the arrogant numbers. We're going to do that here in just a few minutes, and it is super important, but those kind of more qualitative, the structured interviews, it can help you get a sense of the mechanisms, a sense of what's you know how happening beneath the numbers, and you know these that voice that those voices are missing on the task forces.”
“But stable doesn't always feel good in a lived experience because stable can mean yeah, you got a job, you're thankful for that, but you need a better job out there right now.”