Janet L. Norwood, former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, dies

National



Dr. Janet L. Norwood gives testimony in 1987, during her tenure as the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She died at age 91 in Austin. (James K.W. Atherton/The Washington Post)

By Emily Langer March 31 at 7:17 PM 

Janet L. Norwood, an economist who became the first woman to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an office she sought to insulate from partisanship as it measured the nation’s economic health, died March 27 at a senior-living community in Austin. She was 91. ... The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, said her husband, Bernard Norwood.

Dr. Norwood served from 1979 to 1991 as commissioner of labor statistics, a job whose significance far surpasses the number-crunching suggested by its title. The bureau’s monthly employment reports — and the good or bad tidings they contain — rank among the most awaited, closely watched and politically fraught functions of regular government business.

Dr. Norwood was nominated to her first four-year term by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and was retained for two more terms by his Republican successor, Ronald Reagan. When she stepped down, she had, the New York Times reported, a “near-legendary reputation for nonpartisanship.”
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Critics during her tenure and years later have pointed to what they regard as the bureau’s overemphasis on unemployment and insufficient attention to workers who are underemployed or have abandoned their job searches and are therefore no longer officially considered unemployed.

March 31, 2015

Janet Norwood was an icon here at BLS, and my colleagues and I are all deeply saddened by her passing.

Janet’s 28-year career at BLS was capped by serving as BLS Commissioner for 12 years, spanning three Presidential administrations. During her tenure, she rightly earned a reputation for integrity, professionalism, and impartiality.

She set the standard for BLS Commissioners for generations to come, and these attributes are ones that BLS leaders today strive to emulate. I know Janet will continue to inspire all who follow in her footsteps here at BLS.
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You can learn more about Commissioner Norwood’s life and career in these obituaries.

The New York Times

The Washington Post