267

The statistics in this periodical are compiled from two

major sources: (1) household interviews, and (2) reports

from employers.

Data based on household interviews are obtained from

the Current Population Survey (CPS), a sample survey of

the population 16 years of age and over. The survey is conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau for the

Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data

on the labor force, the employed, and the unemployed, classified by such characteristics as age, sex, race, family relationship, marital status, occupation, and industry attachment.

The survey also provides data on the characteristics and past

work experience of those not in the labor force. The information is collected by trained interviewers from a sample

of about 60,000 households (beginning with July 2001 data)

located in 754 sample areas. These areas are chosen to represent all counties and independent cities in the United

States, with coverage in 50 States and the District of

Columbia. The data collected are based on the activity or

status reported for the calendar week including the 12th of

the month.

Data based on establishment records are compiled each

month through the use of touchtone data entry, computerassisted telephone interviewing, and electronic data interchange, or by mail or fax, or on magnetic tape or computer

diskette. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey

is designed to provide industry information on nonfarm

wage and salary employment, average weekly hours, average hourly earnings, and average weekly earnings for the

Nation, States, and metropolitan areas. The employment,

hours, and earnings series are based on payroll reports from

a sample that includes about 160,000 businesses and government agencies covering approximately 400,000 individual worksites. The sample is drawn from a sampling frame

of over 8 million unemployment insurance tax accounts.

The active CES sample includes approximately one -third

of all nonfarm payroll workers. The data relate to all workers, full or part time, who receive pay during the payroll

period that includes the 12th of the month.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOUSEHOLD

AND ESTABLISHMENT SERIES

The household and establishment data complement one

another, each providing significant types of information that

the other cannot suitably supply. Population characteristics, for example, are obtained only from the household survey, whereas detailed industrial classifications are much more

reliably derived from establishment reports.

Data from these two sources differ from each other

because of variations in definitions and coverage, source of

information, methods of collection, and estimating procedures. Sampling variability and response errors are additional reasons for discrepancies. The major factors that have

a differential effect on the levels and trends of the two data

series are as follows.

Employment

Coverage. The household survey definition of employment

comprises wage and salary workers (including domestics

and other private household workers), self-employed persons, and unpaid workers who worked 15 hours or more

during the reference week in family-operated enterprises.

Employment in both agricultural and nonagricultural industries is included. The payroll survey covers only wage

and salary employees on the payrolls of nonfarm establishments.

Multiple jobholding. The household survey provides

information on the work status of the population without

duplication, because each person is classified as employed,

unemployed, or not in the labor force. Employed persons

holding more than one job are counted only once. In the

figures based on establishment reports, persons who worked

in more than one establishment during the reporting period

are counted each time their names appear on payrolls.

Unpaid absences from jobs. The household survey includes

among the employed all civilians who had jobs but were

not at work during the reference week—that is, were not

working but had jobs from which they were temporarily

absent because of illness, vacation, bad weather, childcare

problems, or labor-management disputes, or because they

were taking time off for various other reasons, even if they

were not paid by their employers for the time off. In the

figures based on payroll reports, persons on leave paid for

by the company are included, but those on leave without

pay for the entire payroll period are not.

Hours of work

The household survey measures hours worked for all workers, whereas the payroll survey measures hours for

Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error

Introduction

From: Employment and Earnings, February 2004
268

private production or nonsupervisory workers paid for by

employers. In the household survey, all persons with a job

but not at work are excluded from the hours distributions

and the computations of average hours at work. In the payroll survey, production or nonsupervisory employees on paid

vacation, paid holiday, or paid sick leave are included and

assigned the number of hours for which they were paid

during the reporting period.

Earnings

The household survey measures the earnings of wage and

salary workers in all occupations and industries in both the

private and public sectors. Data refer to the usual earnings

received from the worker’s sole or primary job. Data from

the establishment survey generally refer to average earnings of production and related workers in natural resources

and mining and manufacturing; construction workers in

construction; and nonsupervisory employees in private service-providing industries. For a comprehensive discussion

of the various earnings series available from the household

and establishment surveys, see BLS Measures of Compensation, Bulletin 2239 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1986).

COMPARABILITY OF HOUSEHOLD DATA

WITH OTHER SERIES

Unemployment insurance data. The unemployed total from

the household survey includes all persons who did not have

a job during the reference week, were currently available

for a job, and were looking for work or were waiting to be

called back to a job from which they had been laid off,

whether or not they were eligible for unemployment insurance. Figures on unemployment insurance claims, prepared

by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S.

Department of Labor, exclude, in addition to otherwise ineligible persons who do not file claims for benefits, persons who have exhausted their benefit rights, new workers

who have not earned rights to unemployment insurance,

and persons losing jobs not covered by unemployment insurance systems (some workers in agriculture, domestic

services, and religious organizations, and self-employed and

unpaid family workers).

In addition, the qualifications for drawing unemployment

compensation differ from the definition of unemployment

used in the household survey. For example, persons with a

job but not at work and persons working only a few hours

during the week are sometimes eligible for unemployment

compensation but are classified as employed, rather than

unemployed, in the household survey.

Agricultural employment estimates of the U.S. Department

of Agriculture. The principal differences in coverage are

the inclusion of persons under 16 in the National Agricultural Statistics Service series and the treatment of dual jobholders, who are counted more than once if they work on

more than one farm during the reporting period. There also

are wide differences in sampling techniques and data collecting and estimating methods, which cannot be readily

measured in terms of their impact on differences in the levels and trends of the two series.

COMPARABILITY OF PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT

DATA WITH OTHER SERIES

Statistics on manufacturers and business, U.S. Census

Bureau. BLS establishment statistics on employment differ

from employment counts derived by the U.S. Census Bureau

from its censuses or sample surveys of manufacturing and

business establishments. The major reasons for noncomparability are different treatment of business units

considered parts of an establishment, such as central

administrative offices and auxiliary units; the industrial

classification of establishments; and different reporting

patterns by multiunit companies. There also are differences

in the scope of the industries covered—for example, the

Census of Business excludes professional services, public

utilities, and financial establishments, whereas these are

included in the BLS statistics.

County Business Patterns, U.S. Census Bureau. Data in

County Business Patterns (CBP) differ from BLS establishment statistics in the treatment of central administrative offices and auxiliary units. Differences also may arise because

of industrial classification and reporting practices. In addition, CBP excludes interstate railroads and most of government, and coverage is incomplete for some of the nonprofit

agencies.

Employment covered by State unemployment insurance programs. Most nonfarm wage and salary workers are covered

by the unemployment insurance programs. However, some

employees, such as those working in parochial schools and

churches, are not covered by unemployment insurance, whereas

they are included in the BLS establishment statistics.