GDP, consumer spending, unemployment are some of the most inspected numbers in the world. Not only are they rigorously defined and tested by the government and

GDP, consumer spending, unemployment are some of the most inspected numbers in the world. Not only are they rigorously defined and tested by the government and academia there are whole swaths of finance attuned to them. And no one who uses them seriously doesn’t understand their weaknesses. At a macro level all signals have flaws, knowing what they are and how to deal with them is the whole job of many people. You can find huge swaths of research comparing and contrasting the ADP number vs the official bls stat but no one serious thinks ADP is _better_ than the the headline unemployment number because it can’t be gamed.