The Office for National Statistics has admitted to a fresh error which could skew upcoming jobs data.
The UK’s statistics body admitted that issues linked to surveys will lead to a “reduced quality” in its statistics released in July.
It is the latest setback for the ONS, which has already faced significant scrutiny over problems related to its labour force survey used to inform its statistics on the UK labour market.
The agency revealed in a blog post that it accidentally allocated interviewers to the wrong survey, rather than for next month’s jobs report.
As a result, the ONS said its data will include around 1,200 fewer household interviews compared with the previous reporting period, a drop of around 19%.
It said the issue regarding the collection of data took place during May and early June but did not impact its latest figures, reported last week.
Labour market figures published next month, which will cover datasets for recent months up to June, will have been impacted.
James Benford, director general for surveys and economic and social statistics at the ONS, said: “There will be a level of reduced quality for our labour market statistics in July, with a smaller effect on the subsequent releases.”
He said the organisation will replace missing data points with estimated values but indicated that this could skew the figures.
Data collected in July will be the first where survey samples return back to normal levels, Mr Benford added.
The ONS has been undergoing a major transformation to address previous errors and reputational concerns.
Sir Ian Diamond resigned as the UK’s national statistician last May as a result.
His successor has not yet been named.
