Eventually, changes are made to reflect those changes. Some corporations have been less forthright with their use of numbers, however. Increasingly, they are reporting pro forma earnings. Depending on your dictionary, the term pro forma has varied meanings. Corporations say they use the pro forma results to exclude items that are irrelevant to measuring performance.
Critics contend the companies are trying to fool shareholders and make executives look better.
Personally, I want to see the real numbers. Unemployment rates are also, in fact, estimates, but they are based on the best information available. Corporations are expected to know exactly what their numbers are. The figures also show there are fewer manufacturing jobs and that average weekly and hourly earnings are down. These are workers who have real families and real mortgages and pay real taxes.