Fetting v. Kijakazi, No. 22-1901 (7th Cir. 2023)
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Fetting, 50 years old and suffering from back pain, headaches, depression, and anxiety, unsuccessfully applied for supplemental security income. During an administrative hearing, a vocational expert (VE) testified to Fetting’s physical and mental limitations and his ability to perform certain jobs, stating that Fetting could perform the representative occupations of a cleaner/housekeeper, routing clerk, and marker. The VE estimated that, in the national economy, there were 200,000 cleaner/housekeeper jobs, 40,000 routing clerk jobs, and 200,000 marker jobs. During cross-examination, the VE stated that he calculated his estimates from numbers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, using his “knowledge of the labor market, [acquired] over 30+ years of job placement activities.” He stated: “It’s not a hard and fast scientific type formula” and that he had not conducted any “formal analysis” to validate his estimates but had “in the past checked numbers in other reporting formats.”
The ALJ found that Fetting did not have a disability under the Social Security Act based on the VE’s testimony. The district court and Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that the VE’s methodology for calculating his job number estimates was unreliable. Substantial evidence supports the finding that a significant number of the identified jobs exist in the national economy.
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