All data are available not seasonally adjusted, and some data are available seasonally adjusted. Data are normalized to one-week equivalents for all reports with pay periods that are not equal to one week. Hours and earnings are derived from reports of gross payrolls and corresponding paid hours for production workers, construction workers, or nonsupervisory workers in the service sector. The payroll for workers covered by the CES survey is reported before deductions of any kind, e.g. for old-age and unemployment insurance, withholding tax, union dues or retirement plans. Employee benefits paid by the employer, as well as tips and payments in kind, are excluded.
Total hours differ from the concept of scheduled hours worked.
The average weekly hours reflects effects of numerous factors such as unpaid absenteeism, labor turnover, part-time work, strikes, and fluctuations in work schedules for economic reasons. The CES survey does not have a specific category for part-time workers. Since the survey captures counts of all employees on the payroll, part-time employees are part of the total. They are not counted separately. The average weekly hours for each basic estimating cell are multiplied by the corresponding estimate of the number of production workers to derive aggregate worker hours.