The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in Friday's jobs report that it no longer plans to cut the sample size of the key labor market survey because of the recently passed continuity resolution "that allows the BLS to use funds from the Current Population Survey (CPS, also known as the household survey) at a faster pace." BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer first announced the plan to cut the sample size in June, citing budget constraints and declining response rates that make the survey more expensive and difficult to conduct. The plan would reduce the number of households by 5,000 starting in early 2025, bringing the total to 55,000. The BLS received a grant of about $700 million in the fiscal year that just ended in September. The advocacy group Friends of the BLS and a former White House economist recently urged lawmakers to increase appropriations by about $20 million for fiscal year 2025, but the current House and Senate proposals fall far short of that requirement. The short-term appropriations bill passed in September, which would keep the government running through December, includes $6 million in support for the CPS.