Volume 3 Issue 2 

PARTNERSHIP EXPANSION 

July 2004 

I N S I D E TH IS I S S U E : 

PARTNERSHIP EXPANSION 1 

QWI ENHANCEMENTS 1 

LOCAL LABOR MARKET SCANS 2 

HIDDEN HIGH GROWTH 

INDUSTRIES

2 

TRAINING 3 

REPORTS ON THE AGING

WORKFORCE

4 

REPORTS FROM THE STATES: 

IOWA

4 

CENSUS BUREAU/BLS/STATE/

ETA PARTNERSHIP

5 

PRESENTATIONS 5 

DATA DISSEMINATION 6 

SUCCESSOR/PREDECESSOR

FILES

8 

ONGOING RESEARCH 7 

TEAM NEWS 8 

EDITED WAGE RECORDS 8 

LED N EWSLETTER EWSLETTER EWSLETTER

QWI E NHANCEMENTS 

T he March delivery of the Quarterly Workforce Indicators 

(QWI’s) featured two new developments. The program switched 

over to using NAICS industry codes. 

We also provided QWI’s at the detailed 

industry level for counties, WIB’s and 

metro areas. This is the first time that 

demographic information on these issues has been available at such a level 

of geographic and industry detail! Since 

the data are being rolled out for the first time, we expect some glitches - if you 

see any, please email us at dsd.local.employment.dynamics@census.gov. 

The website has also been modified to reflect these enhancements. We have 

switched to the NAICS site as the default, and in September look for the historical NAICS-based files. 

T he Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has provided 

funding for the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) program to expand. Eleven additional states have requested and received information about joining—and we have already welcomed the addition of the District 

of Columbia, Indiana, and Alabama to the 

partnership. 

As part of that expansion, ETA funded the 

development of an online mapping application 

of the block-to-block origin-destination flows 

that were produced for Minnesota, Florida and 

Illinois. The prototype—viewable at http://

excensus.gritechnologies.com—has been very 

well received. We are asking 10 partner states to work with us, their transportation planners, and their Workforce Investment Boards (WIB’s) to ensure 

high quality input data as well as to make sure the site can be used to quickly 

answer WIB questions. 
LED Newsletter 

W hat are workers in my industry paid, and how high is the turnover in 

my industry? In response to requests from small and medium sized 

businesses, we’re developing online local labor market reports that 

can answer these questions for each industry and local area. The reports will 

enable employers and WIB’s to click on their industry and local area and instantly have at their fingertips report quality tables and graphs that describe 

• Employment 

• Earnings for new hires 

• Earnings for incumbent workers 

• Turnover rates 

• Retention rates 

• Earnings trends 

by age and sex. We’ll also be 

providing training to LMI analysts to help develop more indepth reports that answer these questions. Look for a beta version to be on our 

website in August—and give us feedback on how to make it better!

W here are the “hot” industries in my area? How can I use LED data to 

identify hidden high growth industries? We’re developing online 

templates that begin to answer these questions in a quick, reportoriented fashion. 

LED data have shown us that the top industries in terms of employment are not 

necessarily the top ten industries in terms of hiring—and that the top ten hirers 

for 19-21 year old males are not the same as the top ten hirers for 45-54 year old 

women! So our templates provide graphs and tables that show WIB’s and decision makers which industries have had the greatest 

 

• Employment growth 

• Hiring growth 

• Earnings growth 

• Growth in new hire earnings 

• Growth in job creation 

These reports will show which are the 

“hot” industries by demographic group 

in each industry. 

Page 2 

LOCAL LABOR MARKET SCANS

HIDDEN HIGH GROWTH INDUSTRIES

What are 

workers 

in my 

industry paid? 

What are the 

“hot” 

industries in 

my area?

Monthly Earnings by age and sex:

Hospital Industry (Colorado Springs, CO)

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

$4,000

$4,500

14-18 19-21 22-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-99 Total

Source: LED program and CO Department of Labor and Industry Female Male

Earnins by age and sex: Hospital Industry (Colorado Springs, CO) 

 14-18 19-21 22-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-99 Total 

Female $768 $1,474 $1,697 $2,331 $2,783 $2,982 $2,699 $1,812 $1,640 

Male $1,485 $1,479 $1,810 $2,948 $3,438 $4,211 $3,636 $2,351 $1,652 
LED Newsletter 

W e are planning at least three training sessions for LMI analysts in the 

next year. George Putnam, from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and Eric Moore, from the Oregon Employment 

Department, will jointly run the sessions (with support from LED). 

We are also planning at least two WIB training sessions, following directly 

from the LMI training. These will be run by Ray Uhalde and Mark Troppe, 

from the National Center on Education and the Economy. The second session 

will be held immediately before the NAWB Forum in March. All training sessions will be located in Washington, D.C. 

LMI Analyst Training 

This class is designed for analysts who have a familiarity with labor market 

information. The training will include classroom presentation and a number of 

“hands-on” computer exercises. It is not assumed that students have any expertise with specific statistical software. Students should have a working familiarity with desktop computing. Participants will utilize custom automated tools to 

extract and display state workforce indicators.

Introduction to LED Measures (September 1, 2, and 3, 2004) 

The training will focus on: the measurement of quarterly workforce indicators; 

the analysis and quality control of the quarterly workforce indicators; product 

development; and the uses of the QWI’s to understand the local economy and 

to facilitate strategic planning.

Local Labor Market Scans Using Quarterly Workforce Indicators 

(September 27, 28, and 29, 2004; February 28 and March 1, 2005) 

The training will cover worker employment, worker retention, worker turnover, 

worker earnings, and firm employment change. Participants will utilize the 

templated labor market scans to develop analyses of detailed industries in local 

geographies by categories of age and sex. 

WIB Training 

Using LED (September 30 and October 1, 2004; March 2, 2005) 

The training sessions will incorporate a combination of lecture, participant discussion, and practical exercises designed to reinforce the material presented. 

The target audience for the training will be staff of WIBs and other local workforce development staff. The March 

course may also be suitable for WIB 

members, particularly the business 

membership. The exercises will focus 

on the use of the LED QWI and templates in developing and implementing 

high growth industry sector initiatives, 

particularly in the health sector. 

Page 3 

TRAINING

At least three 

training 

sessions are 

planned for 

LMI analysts; 

two for WIBs 
Paulette Day reports that Iowa's aging report continues to get positive press 

coverage, plus we are getting many comments from our customers praising the 

data. Iowa is currently conducting workshops not only for their WIA regions, 

but also to their Employer Council of Iowa (ECI) and economic development 

groups. 

REPORTS FROM THE STATES : IOWA

LED Newsletter 

P ublication of State-specific reports on the aging workforce began in 

March. About 15 states worked with us to produce these reports—which 

are distributed to the press, governors’ liaisons, Census State Data Centers, and a variety of other state agencies. The 

Census Public Information Office coordinates 

the release with each state LMI agency, and the 

reports have been a big hit. 

 These reports answer such key questions as: 

• What is the age composition of the workforce and what are the changes? 

• Which industries are most affected by the 

aging of the workforce? 

• How stable are the jobs of older workers? 

• In which industries are older workers most 

likely to be employed? 

• How much do older workers earn? 

This project is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. For more information, contact Jennifer Marks (jennifer.p.marks@census.gov). If you have ideas on 

other reports that might be of interest in your state, do let us know. 

Page 4 

R EPORTS O N THE AGING WORKFORCE

I love that 

new LED 

application! 

I believe I 

have been 

pursuing 

some of those 

stats for ten 

years 

(turnover 

comes to 

mind). I 

shared the 

link with lots 

of research 

friends. 

Thanks for 

your help. 

Iowa user
LED Newsletter Page 5 

The working 

group has also 

agreed on a 

flow chart that 

outlines the 

proposed 

production 

process 

PRESENTATIONS

T he LED staff have been making a number of presentations around 

the country—both at national meetings and in states (when the 

LMI Director in that state invites them to do so). These presentations have gone well—examples of the powerpoint presentations are on our 

website at http://lehd.dsd.census.gov. 

Among the forthcoming presentations are: 

• Workforce Innovations Conference in San Antonio (Julia Lane) on July 

18 

• NASWA/LMI conference in Minneapolis (Jeremy Wu) on July 25 

• American Statistical Association in Toronto (John Abowd and Lars 

Vilhuber) in August 

• LMI Forum in Portland (Julia Lane) in November 

We will also have a booth at the 

Workforce Innovations Conference—stop by and see what we’re 

up to! 

CENSUS BUREAU/BLS/STATE /ETA

PARTNERSHIP 

A fter reaching preliminary agreement on a general framework of cooperation, staff from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) met to expand the discussions. Subsequently, Phil Rhones 

from BLS, Chet Bowie from the Census Bureau, and Henry Jackson from Illiniois made a joint appearance and outlined the federal and state visions during the annual Labor Market Information conference in Omaha, Nebraska in 

May. At that meeting, the presentation by the deputy assistant secretary of 

ETA, Mason Bishop, outlined a vision for a demand-driven labor market and 

workforce information system which included the LED program.

A four-way (Census Bureau, BLS, ETA, and States) meeting was convened in 

June for two days, reaching a general consensus on a draft partnership charter. 

The working group has also agreed on a flow chart outlining the proposed 

production process, which has been distributed to all parties for comment. 

Contact your Labor Market Information Director if you wish to view the chart. 
LED Newsletter 

P roducing industry detail for the QWI’s at the substate level has created 

a massive amount of data and the related challenge of how to disseminate it. We are consequently developing a multi-tiered data dissemination strategy. Your suggestions are welcomed! 

1. Research Statistical Server for QWI Data 

Specifications: Current CRADC services as defined in the documentation and 

services listed at http://www.ciser.cornell.edu/CRADC/home.shtml 

Server maintenance: Cornell University 

Target users: LMI analysts and those authorized by the Census Bureau or State 

partners (research professionals). LMI analysts from partner states can access 

their own state’s QWI files, as well as those of other states (if permission is 

granted by their state data custodian), and work from their offices on the 

CRADC computer. Note that no Title 13 confidential data are on the CRADC. 

Functionality: SAS, E-views, Microsoft Office, Stata, SPSS, Genstat, Matlab, 

other packages licensed by CISER if requested. 

2. Web server 

Specifications: Current web design as implemented in QWI 

Online 

Server maintenance: Census Bureau 

Target Users: General population 

Functionality: Access to SIC and NAICS based QWIs for 8 of the basic indicators. Limited table, chart, and download capability. SIC tables will disappear 

when historical NAICS tables are made available. 

3. ALMIS Format Distribution of QWI Data 

Specifications: ETA at http://www.doleta.gov/almis/ 

Server maintenance: State specific 

Target users: LMI applications developed from the ALMIS server 

Functionality: QWI data in the ALMIS system can be used separately or in 

combination with other ALMIS-accessible systems. Illinois and Florida are developing procedures for loading QWI data into ALMIS. 

4. Changes to QWI Distribution for R2004Q3 

Specifications: in development 

Server maintenance: produced on Census Bureau systems for distribution on 

the Census Bureau website and for use on desktop computers 

Target users: current state partner QWI users 

Functionality: The current proposal is to distribute the data in CSV format. 

Only the minimum number of files needed to describe the entire release will be 

created. The IL data extraction utilities will be modified to work on CSV files. 

We will also provide the SAS control cards necessary to convert the CSV format data back to SAS format. There will be no DBF distribution. 

Page 6 

DATA DISSEMINATION

Your 

suggestions on 

improving the 

data 

dissemination 

system are 

welcomed. 
LED Newsletter 

S taff research is focused on developing an understanding of the interaction 

of workers and firms in the labor market— in terms of both their jobs and 

their geographic location 

A major focus of the program has been to understand the workings of the lowwage labor market. The resulting book “Moving Up or Moving On: Who Gets 

Ahead in the Low-Wage Labor Market” by Fredrik Andersson, Julia Lane, and 

Harry Holzer will be published by Russell Sage in December. We will send a 

complimentary copy to all of our LMI shop partners. 

Another major focus of the program has been to understand how and why firms 

offer benefits. A paper by Anja Decressin, Tomeka Hill, Julia Lane, Kristin 

McCue and Martha Stinson that looks at the role of fringe benefits in employer 

and workforce dynamics will be presented at the NBER-CRIW Pre-conference 

on Producer Dynamics in Boston in July 2004. The group is also working with 

Federal Reserve researchers Stephanie Aaronson and Julia Coronado on a project 

on the evolution of firm benefit offerings over time. Staff used the same file to 

examine firm provision of health insurance and make a presentation to the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2004. 

The Sloan project — which examines the relationship between economic turbulence and career ladders, firm performance and wage inequality — has been extremely successful. Four papers from that project will be presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research’s summer institute in Boston. The first 

draft of the book, which is tentatively titled 

“Economic Turbulence: The Impact on Workers, Firms, and Economic Growth,” is expected 

to be finished in August. 

The spatial aspect of work is another important 

area of research. Marc Roemer has begun creating a longitudinal data set for place-ofresidence. This effort will extend the geographic information from 1999 forward and be updated annually. Fredrik 

Andersson has extended his research on the sources of higher productivity in urban areas, which has been accepted to be presented at the European Association 

of Labor Economists' conference in Lisbon, Portugal in September. 

The relationship between welfare recipiency, exit from the low-wage labor market, and employer characteristics is another focus. Erika McEntarfer’s work on 

how former welfare recipients fare in the labor market will also be presented in 

Lisbon, Portugal. 

Page 7 

ONGOING RESEARCH

Staff research 

is focused on 

developing an 

understanding 

of the 

interaction of 

workers and 

firms in the 

labor market—

in terms of both 

their jobs and 

their 

geographic 

location 
LED Newsletter Page 8 

TEAM NEWS

SUCCESSOR/PREDECESSOR FILES

J eremy Wu took up the position of LEHD manager in February, coming 

to us from a position as Chief Statistician at the Department of Transportation. He was previously at the Energy Department and the Department of Agriculture. 

Jennifer Marks, who was in charge of marketing for the 2000 Decennial Census, has been assigned by the Deputy Director to handle LEHD marketing. 

Anja Decressin and Martha Stinson returned from Maternity Leave in January 

2004. 

Anna Andersson (Lotta) and Holly Brown joined the production staff in the 

spring. Lotta is the database administrator. Holly is the office administrator. 

Romain Aeberhardt, from INSEE, will return to France in August. He’ll be 

sorely missed 

Iben Bolvig, from Denmark, will join us as a visiting scholar in the spring. 

Julia Lane has taken a position at the National Science Foundation starting at 

the end of August. NSF has agreed that she can continue working on LED one 

day a week. 

W e have now integrated the production of successor/predecessor files 

into the QWI production process, and all partner states received 

these files last quarter. A good description of how the files can be 

used is described in our Technical Paper TP-2003-09 “Using Worker Flows in 

the Analysis of the Firm.”

Jeremy Wu 

took up the 

position of 

LEHD 

manager in 

February, 

coming to us 

from a position 

as Chief 

Statistician at 

the Department 

of 

Transportation

EDITED WAGE RECORDS

T he last procedure to be moved from research and development mode to 

full production mode has been the wage record editing procedure. This 

has taken a long time to automate, because it requires an enormous 

amount of analyst time, as well as being very computer intensive. Files for 

three states were sent out in the first week of July. Lars Vilhuber and Erika 

McEntarfer have been working to modify the code to produce 'automatic' reports, having the programs generate LaTex tables that will speed the reportgenerating part of the edit. The biggest problem is speeding up processing for 

the biggest states—our current methods are much too slow to handle these 

states within a reasonable length of time (some could take 4-6 months—which 

is obviously much too long). We will be working with those largest states to 

develop further modifications to cut down on processing time.