New data adjustment method reduces errors in economic growth reporting.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis updated how they adjust economic data for seasonal changes in 2018. Before the update, there were signs of seasonal patterns still present in the adjusted data. However, after the update, these patterns were less noticeable. By directly adjusting the raw data, the seasonal patterns were completely removed. The difference between the new adjusted data and the old published data is around 1.1 percentage points in growth rates.