Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) — The Labor Department's Office of Inspector General has recommended changes to the way it releases weekly jobless claims data after an audit found the system couldn't ensure fair access to market-moving numbers. 

The inspector general's finding released today urged the department to consider abandoning media lockups in which some news organizations are given early access to information. In addition to claims, the department issues monthly payroll and inflation figures. 

The watchdog's report, which was ordered after the department released claims data prematurely in August 2012, comes as U.S. statistical agencies reconsider their decades-old methods of disseminating numbers to the media and public.

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