This section presents statistics on the labor force; its distribution by occupation and industry affiliation; and the supply of, demand for, and conditions of labor. The chief source of these data is the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Comprehensive historical and current data are available from the BLS Internet site <http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm>. These data are published on a current basis in the BLS monthly publication Employment and Earnings. Detailed data on the labor force are also available from the Census Bureaus decennial census of population.
Types of data-Most statistics in this section are obtained by two methods: household interviews or questionnaires and reports of establishment payroll records. Each method provides data that the other cannot suitably supply. Population characteristics, for example, are readily obtainable only from the household survey, while detailed industrial classifications can be readily derived only from establishment records.
Household data are obtained from a monthly sample survey of the population. The CPS is used to gather data for the calendar week including the 12th of the month and provides current comprehensive data on the labor force (see text, Section 1, Population). The CPS provides information on the work status of the population without duplication since each person is classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force. Employed persons holding more than one job are counted only once, according to the job at which they worked the most hours during the survey week.
Monthly, quarterly, and annual data from the CPS are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Employment and Earnings.Data presented include nationaltotals of the number of persons in the civilian labor force by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age; the number employed; hours of work; industry and occupational groups; and the number unemployed, reasons for, and duration of unemployment. Annual data shown in this section are averages of monthly figures for each calendar year, unless otherwise specified. Historical national CPS data are available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/cps>.
The CPS also produces annual estimates of employment and unemployment for each state, 50 large metropolitan statistical areas, and selected cities. These estimates are published by BLS in its annual Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment. More detailed geographic data (e.g., for counties and cities) are provided by the decennial population censuses.
Data based on establishment records are compiled by BLS and cooperating state agencies as part of an ongoing Current Employment Statistics program. Survey data, gathered monthly from a sample of employers through electronic interviewing (including touchtone data entry and computer-assisted telephone interviewing) or by mail, fax, or electronic interchange on magnetic tape on computer diskette, are supplemented by data from other government agencies and adjusted at intervals to data from government social insurance program reports. The estimates exclude self-employed persons, private household workers, unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and the Armed Forces. In March 2002, reporting establishments employed 5 million manufacturing workers (30 percent of the total manufacturing employment at the time), 19 million workers in private nonmanufacturing industries (21 percent of the total in private nonmanufacturing), and 14 million federal, state, and local government employees (64 percent of total government).
The establishment survey counts workers each time they appear on a payroll during the reference period (the payroll period that includes the 12th of the month). Thus, unlike the CPS, a person with two jobs is counted twice. The establishment survey is designed to provide detailed industry information for the nation, states, and metropolitan areas on nonfarm wage and salary employment, average weekly hours, and average hourly and weekly earnings. Establishment survey data also are published in Employmentand Earnings. Historicalnational data are available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/ces>. Historical data for states and metropolitan areas are available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/sae>.
In June 2003, BLS completed a comprehensive sample redesign of the establishment survey begun in June 2000, changing from a quota-based sample to a probability-based sample. Also in June 2003, all establishment survey employment, hours, and earnings series were converted from being classified by the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to being classified by the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The NAICS conversion resulted in major definitional changes to many of the previously published SIC-based series. All establishment survey historical time series were reconstructed as part of the NAICS conversion process and all published series have a NAICS-based history extending back to at least 1990. For total nonfarm industries and other high-level aggregates, NAICS history was reconstructed back to the previously existing start date for the series, 1939 in most cases. More information on the sample redesign, the conversion to NAICS, and other changes to the establishment survey implemented in June 2003 appears in ‘‘Revisions to the Current Employment Statistics National Estimates Effective May 2003’’ in the June 2003 issue of Employment and Earnings, aswell as the Establishment Data portion of the Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error section of Employment and Earnings.
The completion of the sample redesign and the conversion to NAICS for state and metropolitan area establishment survey data was implemented in March 2003 with the release of January 2003 estimates. For a discussion of the changes to the state and area establishment survey data, see ‘‘Revisions to the Current Employment Statistics State and Area Estimates Effective January 2003’’ in the March 2003 issue of Employment and Earnings.
Labor force-According to the CPS definitions, the civilian labor force comprises all civilians in the noninstitutional population 16 years and over classified as ‘‘employed’’ or ‘‘unemployed’’ according to the following criteria: Employed civilians comprise (a) all civilians, who, during the reference week, did any work for pay or profit (minimum of an hour’s work) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family enterprise and (b) all civilians who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent for noneconomic reasons (illness, weather conditions, vacation, labor-management dispute, etc.) whether they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Unemployed persons comprise all civilians who had no employment during the reference week, who made specific efforts to find a job within the previous 4 weeks (such as applying directly to an employer or to a public employment service or checking with friends) and who were available for work during that week, except for temporary illness. Persons on layoff from a job and expecting recall also are classified as unemployed. All other civilian persons, 16 years old and over, are classified as ‘‘not in the labor force.’’
Various breaks in the CPS data series have occurred over time due to the introduction of population adjustments and other changes. For details on these breaks in series and the effect that they had on the CPS data, see the section on noncomparability of labor force levels in the Household Data portion of the Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error section of Employment and Earnings available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpseetn.pdf>.
In the most recent series break, beginning in January 2003, the CPS reflects the introduction of Census 2000-based population controls. These new population controls substantially increased the size of the civilian noninstitutional population and the civilian labor force. Data from January 2000 through December 2002 were revised to reflect the higher population estimates from Census 2000 and the higher rates of population growth since the census. At the start of the revision period (January 2000), the new population controls raised the civilian noninstitutional population and the civilian labor force by 2.6 and 1.6 million, respectively. By December 2002, the civilian population and labor force were 3.8 and 2.5 million, respectively, higher than originally estimated. The unemployment rate and other ratios were not substantially affected by the population control adjustments. An explanation of the changes and their effects on labor force estimates appears in ‘‘Revisions to the Current Population Survey Effective in January 2003’’ in the February 2003 issue of Employmentand Earnings, available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/cps/rvcps03.pdf>.
Hours and earnings-Average hourly earnings, based on establishment data, are gross earnings (i.e., earnings before payroll deductions) and include overtime premiums; they exclude irregular bonuses and value of payments in kind. Hours are those for which pay was received. Wages and salaries from the CPS consist of total monies received for work performed by an employee during the income year. It includes wages, salaries, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, and cash bonuses earned before deductions were made for taxes, bonds, union dues, etc. Persons who worked 35 hours or more are classified as working full time.
Industry and occupational groups- Industry data derived from the CPS for 1983-91 utilize the 1980 census industrial classification developed from the 1972 SIC. CPS data from 1971 to 1982 were based on the 1970 census classification system, which was developed from the 1967 SIC. Most of the industry categories were not affected by the change in classification.
The occupational classification system used in the 1980 census and in the CPS for 1983-91, evolved from the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, first introduced in 1977. Occupational categories used in the 1980 census classification system are so radically different from the 1970 census system used in the CPS through 1982, that their implementation represented a break in historical data series. In cases where data have not yet been converted to the 1980 classifications and still reflect the 1970 classifications (e.g., Table 643), comparisons between the two systems should not be made.
Beginning in January 1992, the occupational and industrial classification system used in the 1990 census were introduced into the CPS. (These systems were largely based on the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification and the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification Systems, respectively.) For details on the changes over time in the industrial and occupational classificiation systems used in the CPS see the section on changes in the occupational and industrial classification systems in the Household Data portion of the Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error section of Employment and Earnings available on the site <http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpseetn.pdf>.
Establishments responding to the establishment survey are classified according to the 2002 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Previously they were classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC). See text, Section 15, Business Enterprise, for information about the SIC manual and NAICS.
Productivity-BLS publishes data on productivity as measured by output per hour (labor productivity), output per combined unit of labor and capital input (multifactor productivity), and, for manufacturing industries, output per combined unit of capital, labor, energy, materials, and purchased service inputs. Labor productivity and related indexes are published for the business sector as a whole and its major subsectors: nonfarm business, manufacturing, and nonfinancial corporations, and for over 180 four-digit NAICS specific industries. Labor productivity data were converted to a NAICS classification for the SIC classification in September 2003. Data were reconstructed back to 1987. Multifactor productivity and related measures (currently SIC-based) are published for the private business sector and its major subsectors. Productivity indexes that take into account capital, labor, energy, materials, and service inputs are published for the 18 major industry groups that comprise the manufacturing sector, the utility services industry group, for 141 threedigit SIC manufacturing industries, and railroad transportation. The major sector data are published in the BLS quarterly news release, Productivity and Costs andin the annual Multifactor Productivity Trends release. Industry productivity measures are published annually in the news releases Productivity and Costs, Manufacturing Industries, and Productivity and Costs, Services - Producing and Mining Industries. Detailed information on methods, limitations, and data sources appears in the BLS Handbook of Methods, BLS Bulletin 2490 (1997), Chapters 10 and 11.
Unions-As defined here, unions include traditional labor unions and employee associations similar to labor unions. Data on union membership status provided by BLS are for employed wage and salary workers and relate to their principal job. Earnings by union membership status are usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. The information is collected through the Current Population Survey. Collective bargaining settlements data are available for bargaining situations involving 1,000 or more workers in private industry and state and local government.
Work stoppages-Work stoppages include all strikes and lockouts known to BLS that last for at least 1 full day or shift and involve 1,000 or more workers. All stoppages, whether or not authorized by a union, legal or illegal, are counted. Excluded are work slowdowns and instances where employees report to work late or leave early to attend mass meetings or mass rallies.
Seasonal adjustment-Many economic statistics reflect a regularly recurring seasonal movement that can be estimated on the basis of past experience. By eliminating that part of the change which can be ascribed to usual seasonal variation (e.g., climate or school openings and closings), it is possible to observe the cyclical and other nonseasonal movements in the series. However, in evaluating deviations from the seasonal pattern-that is, changes in a seasonally adjusted series-it is important to note that seasonal adjustment is merely an approximation based on past experience. Seasonally adjusted estimates have a broader margin of possible error than the original data on which they are based, since they are subject not only to sampling and other errors, but also are affected by the uncertainties of the adjustment process itself.
Statistical reliability-For discussion of statistical collection, estimation, sampling procedures, and measures of statistical reliability applicable to Census Bureau and BLS data, see Appendix III. 384 Labor Force, Employment, and Earnings U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003