Reply #34: It's more timely, but not more accurate

[pinqy]

Gallup's hiring measure reports the percentage of employed Americans who, based on what they know or have seen, report that their company or employer is hiring new people and expanding the size of its workforce, not changing the size of its workforce, or letting people go and reducing the size of its workforce. Results are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,600 working adults; Margin of error is ±3 percentage points.

The comparable government survey is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) which surveys 16,000 establishments every month. So 16,000 reports using company records, or 1,600 reports of what people's impressions are...which do you consider the better measurement?

The advantage of the Gallup polls is timeliness..they use a smaller sample with less detailed questions and don't seasonally adjust, so they can put out their numbers a lot quicker.