‘It’s a huge problem’: what’s gone wrong at the ONS and why does it matter?

The debate over jobs statistics comes with unemployment rising and claims Labour’s tax policies will lead to job losses. Photograph: Troika/Alamy

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), with its number-crunchers and crack-of-dawn data dumps, is an unlikely backdrop for turmoil.

But in recent months the Newport-based institution has come under repeated attack over questionable jobs figures, which experts have said leave policymakers“flying blind”. On top of this, questions are now being asked about survey data used to formulate its GDP readings, which were revised down for the second and third quarters on Monday.