Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The CES Survey: Concepts and Scope

1. What is the establishment payroll survey?
2. What is the CES definition of employment?
3. Are part time employees counted in your survey?
4. How are persons with multiple jobs counted in the CES survey?
5. Who is included in data for production and nonsupervisory employees?
6. How do reservists impact CES?
7. Are employees in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands included in national CES estimates?
8. Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys?
9. Why are there 2 monthly measures of employment?
10. Does the establishment survey sample include small firms?
11. Has the establishment survey understated employment growth because it excludes the self-employed?

What is the establishment payroll survey?

The establishment payroll survey, known as the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, is based on a survey of approximately 141,000 businesses and government agencies representing approximately 486,000 worksites throughout the United States. The primary statistics derived from the survey are monthly estimates of employment, hours, and earnings for the Nation, States, and major metropolitan areas. Preliminary national estimates for a given reference month are typically released on the third Friday after the conclusion of the reference week; i.e., the week which includes the 12th of the month, in conjunction with data derived from a separate survey of households, the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is the source of statistics on the activities of the labor force, including unemployment and the Nation's unemployment rate.

What is the CES definition of employment?

CES employment is an estimate of the number of nonfarm, payroll jobs in the U.S. economy. Employment is the total number of persons on establishment payrolls employed full-or part-time who received pay for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month. Temporary and intermittent employees are included, as are any employees who are on paid sick leave, on paid holiday, or who work during only part of the specified pay period. A striking employee who only works a small portion of the survey period, and is paid, would be included as employed under the CES definitions. Persons on the payroll of more than one establishment are counted in each establishment. Data exclude proprietors, self-employed, unpaid family or volunteer workers, farm workers, and domestic workers. Persons on layoff the entire pay period, on leave without pay, on strike for the entire period, or who have a pending job but have not yet reported for work are not counted as employed. Government employment covers only civilian employees; it excludes uniformed members of the armed services.

For the definition of employment from the Current Population Survey (the household survey), see http://www.bls.gov/cps/faq.htm#Ques4.

Are part-time employees counted in your survey?

Yes, the survey captures counts of all employees on the payroll, and part-time employees are part of the total. They are not counted separately. The Current Population Survey does have a separate tally for part-time employees.

How are persons with multiple jobs counted in the CES survey?

Establishments report the number of persons on payroll during the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. A person working multiple jobs at different establishments is counted once at each establishment. A person working different jobs at the same business establishment is counted once.

Who is included in data for production and nonsupervisory employees?

The production and nonsupervisory employee groups vary by industry. In service-providing industries, these data are collected for nonsupervisory employees--employees who are not owners or who are not primarily employed to direct, supervise, or plan the work of others.

In goods-producing industries, the data are collected for production employees in Mining and logging and in Manufacturing, and for construction employees in Construction. Production and construction employees include working supervisors or group leaders who may be "in charge" of some employees, but whose supervisory functions are only incidental to their regular work. The production employee/construction employee categories in goods-producing industries exclude employees not directly involved in production, such as managers, sales, or accounting personnel.

How does the call-up of reservists impact CES employment estimates?

The BLS is unable to quantify the impact of reservists being called to active duty in CES employment figures. In concept, persons on active military duty for the entire survey reference period are not included on employer payrolls. Some reservists hold jobs not covered by the payroll survey--such as the self-employed or those in agriculture--and others may not hold jobs at all. Any reservist who worked for or received pay from their regular employer during the survey reference period would be counted on the employer's payroll. If reservists are replaced by new employees on an employer's payroll during the pay period including the 12th of the month, there would be no net change in the number of jobs counted. If reservists are not replaced, a net decline in the employer's job count would result. If a reservist and a replacement employee for the reservist each worked at any time during the same reference pay period, they would be counted as two employees.

Government employment includes only civilian employees. Military personnel on active duty are excluded. Employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency also are excluded.

Are employees in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands included in national CES estimates?

National CES employment estimates exclude employees in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. BLS cooperates with both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to collect data and publish employment estimates independent of national estimates. See the State and Area homepage.

Are undocumented immigrants counted in the surveys?

It is likely that the CES survey includes at least some undocumented immigrants. However, the establishment survey is not designed to identify the legal status of workers. Therefore, it is not possible to determine how many are counted in the survey.

The household survey does include questions which identify the foreign and native born, but it does not include questions about the legal status of the foreign born. For more information on that survey, please see the Current Population Survey website.

Why are there two monthly measures of employment?

The establishment survey and household survey both produce sample-based estimates of employment and both have strengths and limitations. The establishment survey employment series has a smaller margin of error on the measurement of month-to-month change than the household survey because of its much larger sample size. An over-the-month employment change of about 100,000 is statistically significant in the establishment survey, while the threshold for a statistically significant change in the household survey is about 400,000. The establishment survey provides employment estimates for over 900 detailed industries, for the United States, each State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and about 400 metropolitan areas. The household survey has a more expansive scope than the establishment survey, because it includes the self-employed, unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and private household workers, who are excluded by the establishment survey. The household survey also provides estimates of employment for demographic groups.

Does the establishment survey sample include small firms?

Yes; about 40 percent of the establishment survey sample is comprised of business establishments with fewer than 20 employees. The establishment survey sample is designed to maximize the reliability of the total nonfarm employment estimates for each State; firms from all size classes and industries are appropriately sampled to achieve this goal. Sample data are weighted to represent other establishments in the same State, industry, and size class. For more information on the sampling methods using by CES, see the BLS Handbook of Methods.

Has the establishment survey understated employment growth because it excludes the self-employed?

The establishment survey excludes the self-employed; however, the household survey provides monthly estimates of unincorporated self-employment. For more information on self-employed workers, please see Labor Force Characteristics.

Methodology, Revisions, and Technical Information

1. Why does the establishment survey have revisions?
2. On what basis are the industries in the Current Employment Statistics survey classified?
3. How are the data in the CES survey collected?
4. Why does total employment for the nation not equal the sum of total employment for each State?
5. How is the CES sample for government different from other industries included in the sample?
6. What is a seasonally adjusted estimate?
7. Do hours and earnings statistics include overtime?
8. How are the estimates categorized?
9. How can I get employment data for all private and public hospitals or schools?
10. What is a benchmark?
11. What is the UI universe count?
12. Why are the payroll survey estimates benchmarked to UI universe counts?
13. How does the benchmark revision affect the employment data for months prior to the benchmark month?
14. How does the benchmark revision affect the employment data for months subsequent to the benchmark month?
15. What are the causes of benchmark revisions?
16. Does the establishment survey account for employment from new businesses?
17. What is the birth/death adjustment? Why is it used?
18. How are the birth/death adjustment amounts calculated?
19. How do strikes affect CES employment estimates?
20. How do strikes impact hours and earnings estimates?
21. How can unusually severe weather affect employment and hours estimates?

Why does the establishment survey have revisions?

The establishment survey revises published estimates to improve its data series by incorporating additional information that was not available at the time of the initial publication of the estimates. The establishment survey revises its initial monthly estimates twice, in the immediately succeeding 2 months, to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey. For more information on the monthly revisions, please visit www.bls.gov/ces/cesrevinfo.htm. On an annual basis, the establishment survey incorporates a benchmark revision that re-anchors estimates to nearly complete employment counts available from unemployment insurance tax records. The benchmark helps to control for sampling and modeling error in the estimates. For more information on the annual benchmark revision, please visit www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.

On what basis are the industries in the Current Employment Statistics survey classified?

A sample establishment in the CES survey is an economic unit, such as a factory or a store, which produces goods or services. It is generally at a single location and engaged predominantly in one type of economic activity. Business establishments are classified into industries based on their principal production activity based on the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Industry codes for business establishments reporting economic data to BLS are determined from a supplement to the quarterly unemployment insurance tax reports filed by each employer; this supplement is administered by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. NAICS is based on a production-oriented concept in which industries with similar production processes are classified together.

How are the data in the CES survey collected?

Each month, BLS collects data on employment, payroll, and paid hours from a sample of establishments. To encourage participation in this voluntary survey, BLS uses a variety of collection techniques, tailored to individual firm preferences. Data collection centers perform initial enrollment of each firm via telephone, collect the data for several months via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing and where possible transfer respondents to a self-reporting mode such as touch-tone data entry, fax, or Internet collection. Very large, multi-establishment firms' ongoing reporting is established via electronic data interchange. These firms provide electronic files to BLS that include data from all their worksites.

For the few establishments that do not use the above methods, data are collected using mail, and transcript.

For more information on this topic, see the BLS Handbook of Methods.

Why does total employment for the nation not equal the sum of total employment for each State?

Data submitted by the respondent are used in developing national, statewide, and major metropolitan area estimates. All States' samples are combined to form a collective sample for developing national industry estimates. Statewide samples range from nearly 30,000 sample units in California to about 1,000 units in smaller States. It should be noted that State estimation procedures are designed to produce accurate data for each individual State. BLS independently develops the national employment series and does not force State estimates to sum to national totals nor vice versa. Because each State series is subject to larger sampling and nonsampling errors than the national series, summing them cumulates individual State level errors and can cause some differences at an aggregate level.

How is the CES sample for government different from other industries included in the sample?

The CES government sample is not part of the program's probability-based design. The program is able to achieve a very high percent of universe employment coverage (68 percent) by obtaining full payroll employment counts for many government agencies, thus a probability-based sample design is not necessary for government. The high coverage rate virtually assures a high degree of reliability for the government employment estimates. The large government sample does not bias the total nonfarm employment estimates because it is used to estimate only the government portion of total nonfarm employment. The probability sample is used to estimate employment for all industries in the private sector. Total private and government estimates are summed to derive total nonfarm employment estimates.

What is a seasonally adjusted estimate?

Seasonal adjustment removes the change in employment that is due to normal seasonal hires and layoffs, thus leaving an over-the-month change that reflects only employment changes due to trend and irregular movements. Seasonally adjusted estimates of employment and other series are generated using the X-12 ARIMA program developed by the United States Census Bureau. This program adjusts estimates for fluctuations that occur on a regular basis within a year. For example, employment in retail trade rises prior to the Christmas holiday season and then falls following the holiday.

Do hours and earnings statistics include overtime?

Yes, employers report total gross pay earned during the entire pay period, including overtime pay but excluding irregular payments, and the total number of hours for which employees received pay during the entire pay period including overtime. Overtime hours are published for Manufacturing industries only. Respondents in Manufacturing report the total number of hours for which employees received overtime premiums because they worked more than their regularly scheduled hours.

How are the estimates categorized?

Each respondent is first assigned an ownership code--private or public. Public ownership is further divided into federal, state, or local. Each of these is then assigned an industry (NAICS) code. Extensive industry detail is available for the private sector, while the public sector is limited to a handful of industries for each type of ownership. For example, Federal government estimates also are published for the Department of Defense, the U.S. Postal Service, ship building, hospitals, and other federal government. Estimates are further organized into estimating cells based on data type—all employees, women employees, production or nonsupervisory employees, average weekly hours, average hourly earnings, and average weekly overtime hours (in Manufacturing only). These basic data types are then used to derive other series, such as average weekly earnings or diffusion indexes. See the BLS Handbook of Methods for more information on CES data types.

How can I get employment data for all private and public hospitals or schools?

Employment in all hospitals is the sum of the estimates for private, federal, state, and local hospitals. Similarly, employment in all schools is the sum of the estimates for private, state, and local education. Education estimates for State and local governments may include some administrative offices.

What is a benchmark?

The benchmark adjustment, a standard part of the payroll survey estimation process, is a once-a-year re-anchoring of the sample-based employment estimates to full population counts available principally through unemployment insurance (UI) tax records filed by employers with State labor market information agencies. The difference between the March population counts and the March sample-based employment estimates is referred to as the benchmark revision. A preliminary estimate of the benchmark revision is published in late September, and the final benchmark revision is published with the January preliminary estimates in early February.

What is the UI universe count?

The Bureau's UI universe count—maintained by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program—is a quarterly tabulation, from administrative records, of the number of employees covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws, including Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE). UI universe counts, available on a lagged basis, contain individual employer records for approximately 9.1 million establishments and cover nearly 97 percent of total nonfarm employment; they thus provide a benchmark for the sample-based estimates. For the small segment of the population not covered by UI, BLS develops employment benchmarks from several alternative sources, primarily records from the Railroad Retirement Board and County Business Patterns. For more information regarding the UI universe count, please see the Benchmark Article on the CES website.

Why are the payroll survey estimates benchmarked to UI universe counts?

The CES survey, like many other surveys, establishes benchmarks on a periodic basis in order to adjust its sample-based estimates to complete population counts available from administrative records. Because of their much smaller size, sample surveys offer an ability to produce very timely estimates along with a greater ability to control the data quality of individual reports. There is a need, however, to recalibrate sample estimates periodically against full population counts. The use of a population count, or benchmark, allows a sample survey to adjust the results of estimation processes for new birth units in the population frame, and to adjust for sampling and other non-sampling errors.

How does the benchmark revision affect the employment data for months prior to the benchmark month?

Following standard BLS methodology for national estimates, the March UI-based benchmark employment level replaces the March sample-based employment estimate, and the estimates for the 11 months prior to the benchmark month are adjusted using a "wedge-back" procedure. In this process, the difference, or error, between the benchmark level and the previously published March estimate for each estimating cell is computed. This difference is linearly distributed across the 11 months of estimates subsequent to the previous benchmark. For example, the benchmark revision that was released in February 2012 replaced the March 2011 estimate with the benchmark level, decreasing the employment level for that month by 162,000. To wedge this adjustment over the prior year, 1/12 of the difference was added to April 2010, 2/12s to May and so forth, through February 2011 which received 11/12s of the difference. Employment for March 2010 had been set to a benchmark count in the prior year and was not revised with the March 2011 benchmark. The wedge procedure assumes that the total estimation error accumulated at a steady rate since the last benchmark. Employment benchmarks are applied to not seasonally adjusted estimates.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, 5 years of historical data may revise, because new models for seasonal adjustment are selected and seasonal factors based on the new models are updated.

How does the benchmark revision affect the employment data for months subsequent to the benchmark month?

Estimates for the period after the benchmark month (the post-benchmark period) are calculated for each month by applying previously derived over-the-month sample changes to the revised March levels. New net birth/death model estimates also are calculated and applied during during post-benchmark estimation, and new sample from the annual update is introduced in November following the benchmark month.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, data may revise, because new models for seasonal adjustment are selected and seasonal factors are updated.

What are the causes of benchmark revisions?

In general, differences between universe counts and sample-based estimates result from both sampling and non-sampling error. Although sampling error is present in the payroll survey, as it is in all surveys, the CES sample is so large that sampling error is not usually an important factor in explaining the differences.

Nonsampling error arises in the survey estimates, and in the universe counts, from both the UI and the alternative sources used to establish the noncovered population benchmarks.

Nonsampling error is a more significant cause of benchmark revisions. Sources of nonsampling error include coverage, response, and processing errors in both data series. Additionally, the survey is potentially subject to sample design and estimator biases.

Does the establishment survey account for employment from new businesses?

Yes; monthly establishment survey estimates include an adjustment to account for the net employment change generated by business births and deaths. The adjustment comes from an econometric model that forecasts the monthly net jobs impact of business births and deaths based on the actual past values that can be observed with a lag from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The establishment survey uses modeling rather than sampling for this purpose because the survey is not immediately able to bring new businesses into the sample. There is an unavoidable lag between the birth of a new firm and its appearance on the sampling frame and availability for selection. BLS adds new businesses to the survey twice a year.

What is the birth/death adjustment? Why is it used?

To derive a complete count of total nonfarm employment, a two-part estimator is required. First, a sample-based estimate of the over-the-month employment change is made using the CES sample. The sample is drawn from the population of all employers who have filed Unemployment Insurance tax returns. The sample does not include employers who have recently formed new businesses and who had not yet been added to the Unemployment Insurance tax files at the time the sample was drawn. Business births occur every month, and failure to include an estimate for these units would result in a consistent underestimation of employment totals, that is, a downward bias. Therefore, BLS utilizes a model-based technique to estimate for this part of the population.

In a dynamic economy, firms continually open and close. These two occurrences offset each other to some extent. That is, firms that are born replace firms that die. CES uses this fact to account for a large proportion of the employment associated with business births. This is accomplished by excluding such business death units from the matched sample definition. Effectively, business deaths are not included in the sample-based link portion of the estimate, and the implicit imputation of their previous month's employment is assumed to offset a portion of the employment associated with births.

There is an operational advantage associated with this approach as well. Most firms will not report that they have gone out of business; rather, they simply cease reporting and are excluded from the link, as are all other nonrespondents. As a result, extensive follow-up with monthly nonrespondents to determine whether a company is out-of-business or simply did not respond is not required.

Employment associated with business births will not exactly equal that associated with business deaths. The amount by which it differs varies by month and by industry. As a result, the residual component of the birth/death offset must be accounted for by using a model-based approach.

How are the birth/death adjustments calculated?

During the net birth/death modeling process, simulated monthly probability estimates are computed using continuous and imputed employment over a 5-year period. These estimates are then compared with population employment levels that contain actual business births and deaths along with the continuous units. Moving from a simulated benchmark, differences between the series across time represent a cumulative birth/death component. Those residuals are converted to month-to-month differences and are used as input series to the modeling process.

Models are fit using X-12 ARIMA. Outliers, level shifts, and temporary ramps are automatically identified. Five models are tested, and the model exhibiting the lowest average forecast error is selected for each series.

How do strikes affect CES employment estimates?

The most critical factor in determining whether a strike affects CES employment estimates is its timing. Persons paid for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month are counted as employed. Workers must be on strike for their entire reference pay period and must not be paid by their employer in order to be excluded from CES employment counts. In addition to their direct impact, strikes sometimes have secondary effects. When the magnitude of significant secondary strike effects is known, like the direct effects, these secondary effects are discussed in the monthly news release The Employment Situation and other BLS publications.

Among the potential secondary effects of a strike is that on establishments which are not on strike, but are dependent on the striking establishment, for example, when strikes oblige other plants to close because parts are in short supply.

Another secondary strike effect occurs when competitors of a striking firm add employees to cover additional business foregone by the striking company. This effect may offset the magnitude of the strike's primary effect on CES data.

The management of establishments may hire replacement workers to do the jobs of the workers on strike. Hiring of replacement workers can complicate the estimation of a strike's impact. If replacement workers are hired immediately, then the strike will not be reflected at all in CES data. If the striking workers and the replacement workers both were paid for any time during the reference pay period, employment may increase in the first month of the strike.

For more information regarding strikes and CES estimates see http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/08/technote.htm.

How do strikes impact hours and earnings estimates?

Strikes also affect estimates of workers' average weekly hours and average hourly earnings. These are hours for which employees are paid for work or on paid leave for the reference pay period.

When strikers work part, but not all, of the reference pay period, the CES survey counts them as employed but with reduced hours. The magnitude of the reduction on average weekly hours depends on the proportion of employees in the industry's sample with reduced hours and the number of hours they worked.

The absence of employees who are on strike for the entire reference pay period can impact hours and earnings for the industry if their normal hours or earnings differ significantly from the averages for the industry.

The absence of persons on strike or layoff from payrolls also may affect average weekly hours or average hourly earnings at higher levels of industry aggregation. If workers in the specific industry involved in the strike work shorter hours or earn less than workers in other industries in the aggregation, the hours and earnings estimates for the aggregation will be higher. Conversely, if workers in the specific industry involved in the strike work longer hours or earn more than workers in other industries in the aggregation, the hours and earnings estimates for the aggregation will be lower.

Because of confidentiality requirements, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cannot provide precise impacts of particular strikes and related shutdowns on average weekly hours or average hourly earnings for a particular industry. However, the change in the industry estimate will include the impact of the strike, as well as developments reported by other members of the sample. For more information regarding strikes and CES estimates see http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/08/technote.htm.

How can unusually severe weather affect employment and hours estimates?

In the establishment survey, the reference period is the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Unusually severe weather is more likely to have an impact on average weekly hours than on employment. Average weekly hours are estimated for paid time during the pay period, including pay for holidays, sick leave, or other time off. The impact of severe weather on hours estimates typically, but not always, results in a reduction in average weekly hours. For example, some employees may be off work for part of the pay period and not receive pay for the time missed, while some workers, such as those dealing with cleanup or repair, may work extra hours.

In order for severe weather conditions to reduce the estimate of payroll employment, employees have to be off work without pay for the entire pay period. About half of all employees in the payroll survey have a 2-week, semi-monthly, or monthly pay period. Employees who receive pay for any part of the pay period, even 1 hour, are counted in the payroll employment figures. It is not possible to quantify the effect of extreme weather on estimates of employment from the establishment survey.

Data Availability and Accessibility

1. What types of data can one get from the CES survey?
2. What kinds of hours and earnings data are available?
3. Can I get occupational data from the CES survey?
4. How can I get the data and what does it cost?
5. Can I get a list of the companies in the sample?
   
6. Are estimates available by establishment size?
   
7. Do you have first-published numbers for past years on a database?

What types of data can one get from the CES survey?

The establishment survey produces nonfarm payroll estimates for: all employees, production or nonsupervisory employees (depending on industry), women employees, average weekly hours, average hourly earnings (constant dollar and current dollar), average weekly earnings, average overtime in Manufacturing, indexes of aggregate hours and payrolls, and diffusion indexes. All data are available not seasonally adjusted, and some data are available seasonally adjusted.

What kinds of hours and earnings data are available?

Hours and earnings estimates are produced for all employees in the private sector, for production employees in Manufacturing and Mining and logging, for construction workers in Construction, and for nonsupervisory workers in private, service-providing industries. The estimates are derived from reports of gross payrolls and corresponding paid hours. The payroll for employees covered by the CES survey is reported before deductions of any kind, such as unemployment insurance, withholding and social security taxes, health plans, union dues, or retirement plans. Included in the payroll reports is pay for overtime, vacations, holidays and sick leave paid directly by the firm. Bonuses, commissions, and other types of non-wage cash payments are excluded unless they are earned and paid regularly (at least once a month). Employee benefits paid by the employer, as well as payments in kind, are excluded.

Total hours during the pay period include all hours worked (including overtime hours), and hours paid for holidays, vacations, and sick leave. Total hours differ from the concept of scheduled hours worked. Estimates of average weekly hours reflect effects of numerous factors such as unpaid absenteeism, labor turnover, part-time work, strikes, and fluctuations in work schedules for economic reasons. Overtime hours in Manufacturing are collected where overtime premiums were paid if hours were in excess of the number of straight time hours in a workday or workweek.

Can I get occupational data from the CES survey?

No. The CES survey does not collect occupational information. Occupational employment information is collected as part of the Current Population Survey and the Occupational Employment Statistics program.

How can I get the data and what does it cost?

CES data are published monthly in the Employment Situation news release and in Employment and Earnings Online. Archived editions of Employment and Earnings Online are available from April 2007 forward. Earlier back issues are kept at federal depository libraries.

The most current CES statistics can be accessed free of charge via the Bureau's online LABSTAT database and the FTP database.

• Current data: The Employment Situation press release.
• Current data: Real Earnings - press release.

For a set of tutorials addressing data extraction from the BLS site and other topics, see the Tutorials page.

To join the BLS e-mail subscription service that provides excerpts from and links to The Employment Situation, Real Earnings, and other BLS news releases of interest, please see the BLS News Service Subscription E-mail page.

To subscribe to the BLS's RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed to get news from CES and other BLS programs delivered directly to your desktop, see the RSS Feeds page.

Can I get a list of the companies in the sample?

No. Data are collected under a pledge of confidentiality, which promises that data collected are used for statistical purposes only. In accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347), other applicable Federal laws, and internal policies and procedures, BLS can reveal neither the names of employers that participate nor the specific data provided by any individual employers.

Are estimates available by establishment size?

No. The CES survey does not publish estimates by size of establishments. Some data by size of establishment are available from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.

Do you have first-published numbers for past years on a database?

No. Our LABSTAT database has only the latest published statistics. We do not keep a separate database of first-published numbers. First published numbers can be obtained from archived news releases, from the monthly publication Employment and Earnings, or from the monthly revision tables.

 

Last Modified Date: February 3, 2012