Ignore US government economy data – base your business decisions on actual data | Gene Marks

The US reported the GDP bounced back - but at best it's preliminary data that's revised multiple times. Info from the top two payroll services are a better bet

Trying to figure out the future in the current climate is enough to give you a migraine. Where is the economy heading? Should you take risks or circle the wagons? Can you hire and spend or do you need to cut overhead and retract? People are relying on you to make the right decisions. But unfortunately, the data which most of us receive is not very helpful.

For example, this week the US reported gross domestic product (GDP) - the broadest measure of the health of the economy - bounced back last quarter. Good news? My advice: ignore it. Why? Because like most of the big numbers that the government reports this number is based on surveys, and how accurate are you when you answer a survey? At worst, it's inaccurate, at best, it's merely preliminary data that's revised multiple times over the succeeding months. By the time it's finalized the data is too old to be of use to any business manager looking to figure out the economic future.