The revision changed that to a loss of 2,100 jobs.

Similarly, the mining and construction sector went from a gain of 3,100 jobs to a loss of 100. Job gains in business services fell from a preliminary estimate of 6,300 to a revised 1,800.

The BLS bases its first estimate on a survey of employers, and revises numbers when it has data from all businesses’ unemployment-insurance returns. Since the survey relies on a relatively small sample, errors can be large in industries with a lot of small firms.

Starting sometime last year, the BLS appeared to be over-sampling restaurants and construction firms that were new or expanding, while missing the ones that were closing.

In an era when federal jobs numbers are receiving political scrutiny, someone might try to spin this as President Donald Trump telling us the truth after his predecessor, Barack Obama, exaggerated St. Louis’ economic health. That, however, would be fake news.