Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2008

The annual bulletin Employment and Wages contains employment and wage data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program aggregated by State and industry and by county. The latest bulletin, Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2008, will be available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. The material cited below is drawn from this publication, which is largely CD-based. Text references to the CD are not modified in the web version.

Preface

This edition continues the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS or the Bureau) efforts to make the bulletin on employment and wages more user-friendly. Most notably, data tables and the text describing the characteristics and uses of the data are published exclusively in digital formats and included on the enclosed CD.  (Formerly, the data and its description were printed as a book with nearly 700 pages.) All tables on this CD are available as PDF files. Also, all data for 2008, at each level of geography, are provided as sequential (flat) files on the enclosed CD.  Alternatively, all data and tables provided on the enclosed CD can be found at www.bls.gov/cew. Questions regarding these data can be addressed to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program by calling (202) 691-6567 or by using any of the channels provided on the QCEW contact page on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewcont.htm.

Included on the CD for the 2008 bulletin are PDFs of the quarterly County Employment and Wages news releases produced by the QCEW program as well as PDFs of all 2008 QCEW news releases published by regional offices of the BLS.  County Employment and Wages news releases present employment and wages by county and are released approximately 6 months after the reference quarter. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) news releases present gross job gains and losses and are released approximately 8 months after the reference quarter. (These BED data were first released in September 2003.) Questions about BED data can be directed to the information line at (202) 691-6467 and the program’s Web site is www.bls.gov/bdm/.

All data, at each level of geography, can be found at www.bls.gov/cew/. Additionally, all tables in this publication are available as PDFs on the above Web site. Questions regarding these data can be addressed to the QCEW program by calling (202) 691-6567 or by email.

Material in this publication is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. This information is available to sensory-impaired individuals on request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.

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Acknowledgments

The following members of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics prepared this bulletin:  Michael B. Buso, Jennifer Cheng, John Dickson, Paul E. Ferree, David R. H. Hiles, David A. Ivory, Spencer A. Jobe, Keith G. Keel, Mike McCall, Jay Miller, Akbar Sadeghi, Masa Shirako, Eric Simants, Peter Smith, Robert Viégas, Linda Wohlford and Phoebe Yung of the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Richard L. Clayton, Chief. Data were prepared and processed by Zipora Abzug, Barbara Athey, Noel Cox, Patricia Felder, Jacob Gabiam, John Kennedy, Stephen Lashick, Ali Latif, Larry Lie, Sandra Logan, Reuel Paredes, William Plaskie, Carolyn Raines-Fein, Ana Reyes, Kimberly Stephens, Shirley Tsai, Natasha Tsyryulnikova, and Pat Walker of the Division of Business Establishment Systems, Arthur Yao, Chief. Cover art, typesetting, and layout were furnished by Bruce Boyd, and editorial services were provided by Monica Gabor of the Office of Publications and Special Studies.

BLS wishes to express its appreciation to U.S. employers for their continued cooperation in providing establishment-level data on the Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) form. This information for each business location is critical to the accurate distribution of employment and wage data to the appropriate geographical area and specific industry. If businesses did not provide this level of detail, the quality of the data would be adversely affected.

State workforce agencies that collect data from employers also play a major role in this ongoing program. The efforts of staff at these agencies in verifying, editing, and supplying high-quality data to BLS are essential to the accuracy of this bulletin and are appreciated. We also would like to express our gratitude for the dedicated work of the BLS staff in the Electronic Data Interchange Center and in the regional offices for their ongoing efforts to improve the quality of data provided in this bulletin.

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Introduction

Data contained in this bulletin represent the complete and final count of employment and wages for workers covered by State Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program during 2008 for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Data are aggregated by geography at the county, metropolitan statistical area, combined statistical area, State, and national levels; by ownership under private industry or Federal, State, or local government; and by industry as defined under the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). County, State, and national level aggregates appear in the tables in this publication.  These data are the product of a Federal-State cooperative program, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), also referenced as ES-202.  State workforce agencies compile the data for both private- and public-sector workers from reports filed by employers each quarter and report it to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS; the Bureau).

In 2008, BLS derived totals of 9.1 million establishments, 134.8 million employed, and $6.1 trillion in wages, from reports submitted to State workforce agencies by every employer covered by UI or by UCFE. Of these employers, those in private industry provided State workforce agencies with quarterly tax reports on monthly employment, quarterly total and taxable wages, and contributions for an average of 113.2 million wage and salary employees in approximately 8.8 million business establishments. Similar reports of monthly employment and quarterly wages were submitted by the Federal Government for 2.8 million civilian employees, by State governments for 4.6 million employees, and by local governments for 14.2 million employees. UI-covered employment reported by these sources constituted a virtual census (97.1 percent) of employees on nonfarm payrolls. The principal exclusions from UI and UCFE coverage are cited in Characteristics and Uses of the Data, which follows this introduction. BLS presents data by ownership, industry, and State. These data include the average number of establishments, average annual employment, total wages, and annual and average weekly wages per employee. Additionally, the Bureau publishes national employment and wage totals for 11 supersectors, 20 sectors, and all 1,193 six-digit NAICS industries. County-level data include number of establishments, December employment, and average weekly wage. Private-sector data are presented by State, from the total private ownership level to the 6-digit industry level. Private-sector data also are presented by national gross job gains and losses. State, local, and Federal Government data are detailed for selected industries.

QCEW data for 2007 forward are classified according to the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 2007 NAICS coding represents a relatively minor revision to the 2002 NAICS system that had been in use with QCEW data beginning with the release of 2001 data. However, at the detailed industry level, some of the changes are substantial. Some industries were added, some were deleted, and others were split into two or more industries. Table 2 on the accompanying CD, which displays over-the-year changes by industry, will therefore show significant gains and losses for those industries introduced with or modified by this revision; such changes should be considered noneconomic in nature and should not be compared or contrasted with those economic gains or losses observed in industries not affected by this revision. In first quarter 2007, approximately 1 percent of both employment and establishments and 2 percent of total wages were reclassified into different industries as a result of the revision. Industries introduced with 2007 NAICS are:

  • 517210            Wireless telecommunications carriers
  • 517911            Telecommunications resellers
  • 517919            All other telecommunications
  • 51913              Internet publishing and web search portals
  • 519130            Internet publishing and web search portals
  • 541711            Research and development in biotechnology
  • 541712            Other physical and biological research
  • 561311            Employment placement agencies
  • 561312            Executive search services

2002 NAICS industries deleted with the revision will not appear in table 2, although the loss of establishments, employment, and wages may be visible at higher levels of aggregation. Six-digit industries that were split into two or more industries with this revision include:

  • 111211            Potato farming
  • 111219            Other vegetable (except potato) and melon farming
  • 111998            All other miscellaneous crop farming
  • 112519            Other aquaculture
  • 314999            All other miscellaneous textile product mills
  • 315211            Men’s and boys’ cut and sew apparel contractors
  • 315212            Women’s, girls’, and infants’ cut and sew apparel contractors
  • 326199            All other plastics products manufacturing
  • 326291            Rubber product manufacturing use
  • 326299            All other rubber product manufacturing
  • 333298            All other industrial machinery manufacturing
  • 333415            Air-conditioning and warm air heating equipment and commercial and industrial refrigeration equipment manufacturing
  • 333994            Industrial process furnace and oven manufacturing
  • 333997            Scale and balance manufacturing
  • 333999            All other miscellaneous general purpose machinery manufacturing
  • 334220            Radio and television broadcasting and wireless communications equipment manufacturing
  • 334515            Instrument manufacturing for measuring and testing electricity and electrical signals
  • 336612            Boat building
  • 337127            Institutional furniture manufacturing
  • 339113            Surgical appliance and supplies manufacturing
  • 517110            Wired telecommunication carriers
  • 525990            Other financial vehicles
  • 531110            Lessors of resident buildings and dwellings
  • 531120            Lessors of nonresidential buildings (except miniwarehouses)
  • 531130            Lessors of miniwarehouses and self-storage units
  • 531190            Lessors of other real estate property
  • 541612            Human resources and executive search consulting services

Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the BLS Web page at www.bls.gov/bls/NAICS.htm and the U.S. Census Bureau Web page at www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. Tables identifying the relationship between 2007 NAICS and 2002 NAICS can be found at www.census.gov/naics/2007/index.html. The NAICS 2007 manual may be obtained by accessing the Web page of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at www.ntis.gov/ and selecting “Best Sellers.”

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Characteristics and uses of the data

Characteristics

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled the data in this publication as part of the operations of its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Data are derived from the quarterly tax reports submitted to State workforce agencies by employers, subject to State UI laws and from Federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Each quarter, State agencies edit and process the data and send the information to the Bureau’s national office in Washington, DC. The QCEW program provides the most complete set of monthly employment and quarterly wage data by 6-digit industry at the national, State, combined metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan statistical area, and county levels. Data have broad economic significance for the evaluation of labor market trends and major industry developments, for time-series analyses, and for interindustry comparisons.

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Uses of the data

The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce uses QCEW data as a base for developing the wage and salary component of personal income, part of the National Income and Product Accounts. QCEW wages accounted for 50.2 percent of total personal income and 93.8 percent of the wage and salary component of personal income in 2008.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses QCEW data as a quality check against data provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  This allows SSA to improve its estimates of Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Hospital Insurance (HI) covered and taxable wages and employment for the most recent historical periods.  This, in turn, allows the Treasury to make more accurate transfers from the general fund to the OASDI and HI trust funds.  For the annual Trustees Reports, this provides legislators and the general public with more accurate estimates of the effects of present and proposed legislation on the future status of the OASDI and HI trust funds.

SSA also uses QCEW data as a quality check against data provided by employers on Forms W-2.  This allows them to improve their estimates of the average U.S. wage for the latest prior historical year.  Each October, the SSA estimates the annual U.S. wage for the prior year to set the Average Wage Index (AWI) for that year.  This, in turn, is used to set automatic adjustments in the contribution and benefit base, bend points, earnings test exempt amounts, and other wage-indexed amounts for the upcoming year.

QCEW data are used by businesses and by public and private research organizations for economic forecasting, transportation planning, industry and regional analysis, impact studies, and other tasks.

The QCEW program provides data necessary to both the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor and State workforce agencies for use in administering the workforce security program. Data accurately reflect the extent of coverage of State UI laws and are used to measure UI revenues; national, State, and local area employment; and total and UI-taxable wage trends. The information is used as an input for actuarial studies, determination of employer UI tax experience ratings, and UI maximum weekly benefit levels. Research using QCEW data helps measure the solvency of UI trust funds. QCEW data also are used to compute State and national insured unemployment rates for workers covered by UI programs.

QCEW data also are important for a variety of other BLS programs. A quarterly file containing employer name and address information serves as a sampling frame for BLS establishment-based surveys, such as the National Compensation Survey, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, the Employment Cost Index (ECI), the Injuries, Illness, and Fatalities (IIF) program, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), and the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey. QCEW data also serve as the basic source of benchmark information for employment by industry in the CES program, the IIF program, and the OES Survey.

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How to obtain publications and data

Recent and historical data may be obtained from the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew. Previous editions of Employment and Wages Annual Averages are out of print, but file copies may be examined at the BLS Washington office and at Federal Depository Libraries. For assistance in obtaining QCEW data, a QCEW analyst can be reached by telephone at (202) 691-6567, or by e-mail at www.bls.gov/cew/cewcont.htm. Requests also may be sent by mail to the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Room 4840, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212. The request should include the name and telephone number of an individual whom BLS staff may contact, if necessary.

Most State workforce agencies have QCEW employment and wage data for both the private and government sectors by county and for major labor market areas. If data provided by the BLS Web site are insufficient, requests for these detailed data should be made directly to State agencies. Data for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also available and may be obtained from the State workforce agencies in those jurisdictions.

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Unemployment insurance laws and coverage

Initially, the Federal Unemployment Insurance Tax Act (1938) applied only to firms employing at least 8 persons for a minimum of 20 weeks in a calendar year and excluded certain categories of workers. Amendments to Title XV of the Social Security Act established the UCFE program, which extended coverage to Federal civilian employees effective January 1, 1955, and to workers in firms employing from four to seven workers effective January 1, 1956.

Federal legislation, effective January 1, 1972, extended coverage of State UI systems to firms employing one worker or more in 28 States and expanded some of the statutory coverage provisions. (The remaining States previously had extended coverage to these small employers.) The 1972 legislation also brought coverage to employees of State hospitals, colleges, and universities.

The Federal Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1976 incorporated major changes in State UI laws effective January 1, 1978. Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), States expanded coverage to include nearly all remaining State and local government employees, employees of nonprofit elementary and secondary schools, and certain domestic workers. Some States began implementing the amendments as early as 1976. The law also brought the U.S. Virgin Islands under the UI system.

The 1976 amendments covered agricultural labor if performed for an employer who, in any calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year, paid cash remuneration of $20,000 or more to individuals employed in agricultural labor. The 1976 amendments also apply to employers who, on each of some 20 days in 20 different weeks during the current or preceding calendar year, employed at least 10 individuals in agricultural labor.

Under a 1981 Supreme Court ruling, schools affiliated with religious organizations are not required to be covered under the UI system. Many of these schools, however, continue to cover their employees on a voluntary basis. Special provisions for railroad workers are made through the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Data for workers covered under the Railroad Retirement Board and for those covered under the Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemen (UCX) program are excluded from the tables in this publication.

While coverage is largely consistent, comparisons of data from one State to another should take into consideration the differences in UI laws among States. In addition, when UI-covered private-industry employment data are compared directly with other employment series, the coverage exclusions should be taken into account. Table A quantifies some of the exclusions in 2008.

Table A. Coverage exclusions in 2008, for selected workers

Group

Number Excluded
(in millions)

  Number Included
(in millions)

Wage and salary agricultural workers

0.1

1.2

Self-employed farmers1

0.9

Not covered

Self-employed nonagricultural workers1

9.2

Not covered

Domestic workers

0.2

0.6

Unpaid family workers1

0.1

Not covered

State and local government workers

0.9

18.9

Railroad workers

0.2

<0.1

1These are out-of-scope groups, according to QCEW criteria.

In a number of States, certain types of nonprofit employers, such as religious organizations, are given a choice of coverage or exclusion. Under FUTA, all States must cover nonprofits that employ four or more workers. Some States have extended coverage to nonprofits employing one or more workers. Details on coverage laws are provided in Comparison of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, available on request from the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, www.doleta.gov/.

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Industrial classification

Since 1938, employment and wage data developed in the QCEW program have been classified by industry. An industrial code, based on a description provided by the employer on a questionnaire, is assigned to each establishment by the State workforce agency. If a private or government employer conducts different activities at various establishments or installations, separate industrial codes are assigned, to the extent possible, to each establishment.

Data presented in this bulletin are classified in accordance with the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Previously, beginning with the release of data for 2001, publications presenting QCEW data used the 2002 version of NAICS as the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in structure between NAICS and the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system that was previously used, industry data for 2001 forward are not comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years.

NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic units. Units with similar production processes are classified into the same industry. NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced. The NAICS approach yields industry groupings that are significantly different from those obtained with the SIC approach.

Data users will be able to work with NAICS industrial groupings that better reflect the workings of the U.S. economy. For example, the industry sector called information brings together units that turn information into a commodity with units that distribute that commodity. The major components for information are publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications, information services, and data processing. Under the SIC system, these units were spread across the manufacturing, communications, business services, and amusement services groups. Another sector of interest is professional and technical services. This sector consists of establishments engaged in activities into which human capital is the major input.

The 2007 NAICS manual defines the following categories of industries:

•   20 sectors

•   99 subsectors

•   313 four-digit industry groups

•   721 five-digit NAICS industries

•   1,175 six-digit industries.

BLS has extended the NAICS coding upwards into 2 domains and 11 supersectors.

BLS also has extended NAICS downward into subsector 238, specialty trade contractors, dividing the 19 industries into residential and nonresidential categories. BLS files include totals for unclassified records at each NAICS level of aggregation. Unclassified, NAICS 999999, is its own supersector under the service-producing domain. The industry categories under subsector 238 and the inclusion of unclassified bring the number of 6-digit industries to 1,195. Yet, there are two 6-digit industries not used in the United States: Dual purpose cattle ranching and farming, NAICS 112130, and offices of notaries, NAICS 541120. Thus, the number of 6-digit industries for which BLS publishes data is 1,193.

BLS publishes NAICS industry data under the principle that, as long as there is additional detail to be gained by publishing the next lower level, the Bureau will do so. This principle of congruent data means that BLS will publish all data to the 6-digit industry level if there are two or more 6-digit industries below a 5-digit NAICS industry level. If there is only one such industry, BLS publishes data for only the 5-digit level. Likewise, if there is only one 6-digit industry and one 5-digit NAICS industry under a 4-digit industry group, BLS will publish data for only the 4-digit industry group. At this time, there are 7 four-digit industry groups that roll up to the 3-digit subsector level, 65 five-digit NAICS industries that roll up to the 4-digit industry group level, and 406 six-digit industries that roll up to the 5-digit NAICS industry level. There are also 65 six-digit industries that roll up to the 4-digit level and 7 six-digit industries that roll up to the 3-digit level. 

Additionally, there are two 6-digit industries that have a significant last digit of “0”:  Commercial lithographic printing, NAICS 323110, and electromedical apparatus manufacturing, NAICS 334510. Both of the 5-digit NAICS industries have 10 six-digit industries under them. Thus, NAICS codes should not be padded with zeroes.

To ensure the highest possible quality of data, State workforce agencies verify and update, if necessary, the NAICS, location, and ownership classifications of virtually all establishments on a 4-year cycle. Information for government units in the public administration sector, however, is verified less frequently. Each year, changes in establishment classification codes resulting from the verification process are introduced with the data reported for the first quarter.

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Employment

In general, QCEW monthly employment data represent the number of covered workers who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period that included the 12th day of the month. Virtually all workers are reported in the State in which their jobs are located.

Covered private-industry employment includes most corporate officials, executives, supervisory personnel, professionals, clerical workers, wage earners, piece-workers, and part-time workers. It excludes proprietors, the unincorporated self-employed, unpaid family members, and certain farm and domestic workers.

Persons on paid sick leave, paid holiday, paid vacation, and the like are also included. Persons on the payroll of more than one firm during the period are counted by each UI-subject employer, if they meet the employment definition noted previously. Workers are counted even though, in the latter months of the year, their wages may not be subject to UI tax. The employment count excludes workers who earned no wages during the entire applicable pay period because of work stoppages, temporary layoffs, illness, or unpaid vacations.

Employment data reported for Federal civilian employees are a byproduct of the operations of State workforce agencies in administering the provisions of Title XV of the Social Security Act—the UCFE program. Federal employment data are based on reports of monthly employment and quarterly wages submitted each quarter to State agencies for all Federal installations with employees covered by the Act, except for certain national security agencies, which are omitted for security reasons.

Employment at all Federal agencies for any given month is based on the number of persons who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period that included the 12th of the month.

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Establishments and employment size

An establishment is an economic unit, such as a farm, mine, factory, or store that produces goods or provides services. It is typically at a single physical location and engaged in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity for which a single industrial classification may be applied. Occasionally, a single physical location encompasses two or more distinct and significant activities. Each activity is reported as a separate establishment, if separate records are kept, and the various activities are classified under different NAICS industries.

Most employers have only one establishment; thus, the establishment is the predominant reporting unit or statistical entity for reporting employment and wage data. Most employers who operate more than one establishment in a State file a Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) each quarter, in addition to their quarterly UI report. The MWR form is used to collect separate employment and wage data for each of the employer’s establishments. Such data are not detailed on the UI report. Some employers with two or more very small establishments do not file an MWR. If the total employment in an employer’s secondary establishments (all establishments other than the largest) is 10 or less, the employer generally files a consolidated report for all establishments. Also, some employers either cannot, or will not, report at the establishment level and, thus, aggregate establishments into one consolidated unit—or possibly several units—though not at the establishment level.

Before 1991, employers provided covered employment and wage data on a reporting unit basis. Reporting unit data typically furnished detail only for different county locations or industrial operations within a State. A nonstandard form, similar in concept to the MWR and called the Statistical Supplement, was used by States to collect these county industry data. Although reporting units were, for the most part, individual establishments, employers could provide a summary of their employment and wage data for multiple establishments within a county that were conducting the same type of industrial activity. For example, a fast-food business might have submitted a single report that covered all of its operations within a county prior to 1991; on the MWR, the employer reports employment and wage data for each location.

For government, the reporting unit is the installation: a single location at which a department, agency, or other government body has civilian employees. Federal agencies follow slightly different criteria than do private employers, when breaking down their reports by installation. They are permitted to combine as a single statewide unit all installations with 10 or fewer workers, if those installations belong to the same subdepartmental unit. Reports from Cabinet-level departments are not aggregated to a department-wide level. Departments submit separate reports for each bureau or agency (terminology for subdepartmental units may differ) within a given department. Independent agencies report on an agency-wide basis. As a result of these reporting rules, the number of reporting units is always larger than the number of employers (or government agencies), but smaller than the number of actual establishments (or installations).

Data reported for the first quarter of 2008 were tabulated into size categories, ranging from worksites with few employees to those with 1,000 or more employees. The size category is determined by the establishment’s March employment level. It is important to note that data for each establishment of a multi-establishment firm are tabulated separately into the appropriate size category. The total employment level of the reporting multi-establishment firm is not used in the size tabulation.

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Wages

Total wages. Covered employers in most States report total compensation paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of when the services were performed. A few State laws, however, specify that wages be reported for, or be based on, the period during which services are performed—rather than for the period during which compensation is paid. Under most State laws or regulations, wages include bonuses, stock options, severance pay, the cash value of meals and lodging, tips and other gratuities, and—in some States—employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans, such as 401(k) plans.

Covered employer contributions for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance; health insurance; UI; workers’ compensation; and private pension and welfare funds are not reported as wages. Employee contributions for the same purposes, however, as well as money withheld for income taxes, union dues, and so forth are reported, even though they are deducted from the worker’s gross pay.

Average wages. Average annual wages per employee for any given industry are computed by dividing total annual wages by annual average employment. A further division by 52 yields average weekly wages per employee. Annual pay data only approximate annual earnings, because an individual may not be employed by the same employer all year or may work for more than one employer at a time.

Average weekly or annual pay is affected by the ratio of full-time to part-time workers, as well as by the numbers of individuals in high- and low-paying occupations. When comparing average pay levels among States and industries, data users should take these factors into consideration. For example, industries characterized by high proportions of part-time workers will show average weekly wage levels appreciably less than the weekly pay levels of regular full-time employees in these industries. The opposite is true of industries with low proportions of part-time workers and of industries that typically schedule heavy weekend and overtime work. Average wage data also may be influenced by work stoppages, labor turnover, retroactive payments, seasonal factors, and bonus payments.

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Business Employment Dynamics

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of the QCEW program. BED data are compiled by BLS from existing quarterly State UI records for nonhousehold employers and are supplemented with MWR records. In the BED program, UI records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each privately owned establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.

The linkage process initially matches establishments´ unique UI identification numbers assigned by the State workforce agencies. Between 95 and 97 percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter are matched by UI numbers. The rest are linked in one of three ways. The first method uses predecessor and successor information, identified by the State workforce agencies, to relate records with different UI numbers across quarters. Predecessor and successor relationships can come about for a variety of reasons, including a change in ownership, a firm´s restructuring, or a UI account´s restructuring. If a match cannot be attained in this manner, a probability-based match is used. This match attempts to identify two establishments with different UI numbers as continuous. The match is based upon establishments having the same business name, address, and phone number. Third, an analyst examines unmatched records individually and attempts to make a possible match.

The change in employment at the establishment level results from one of four types of events. An increase in employment can come from either opening establishments or expanding establishments. A decrease in employment can come from either closing establishments or contracting establishments. Gross job gains include the sum of all jobs added at either opening or expanding establishments. Gross job losses include the sum of all jobs lost in either closing or contracting establishments. The net change in employment is the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.

The formal definitions of establishment-level employment changes are as follows:

Openings.  These are establishments either with positive third-month employment for the first time in the current quarter and with no links to the previous quarter or with positive third-month employment in the current quarter following zero employment in the previous quarter.

Expansions.  These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters and with an increase in employment over this period.

Closings. These are establishments with positive third-month employment in the previous quarter and with either no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions. These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters and with a decrease in employment from the previous to the current quarter.

All establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third month of each quarter. Not all establishments change their employment levels; these establishments count towards estimates of total employment, but not for levels of gross job gains and gross job losses.

With the publication of its first quarter data for 2007, the BED program announced a one-time revision to its historical data series.  According to this announcement, all historical BED series back to third quarter 1992 have been revised for both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted series to incorporate updated and improved input data. In the future, annual revisions to BED series will be published each year with the release of first quarter data. Those revisions will cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and 5 years of seasonally adjusted data.

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Disclosure restrictions

In accordance with BLS policy, data reported under a promise of confidentiality are not published in an identifiable way and are used only for specified statistical purposes. BLS withholds the publication of UI-covered employment and wage data for any industry level when necessary to protect the identity of cooperating employers. Totals at the industry level for the States and the Nation include the undisclosed data suppressed within the detailed tables. However, these totals do not reveal the suppressed data.

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Imputed data

To reduce the effect of the exclusion of data because of late reporting by covered private and government employers, State agencies impute employment and wages for such employers and include them in ea ch quarterly report. Corrections to data that may be entered after a report is filed include replacement of imputations with reported data to the extent possible. Imputations are calculated at the individual establishment level, normally from historical data reported by the employer. Sometimes trends reported by employers in the same industry and information obtained from other sources also are used. If a report remains delinquent for more than one quarter and research shows that it is still active, the data for the establishment will again be imputed.

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Comparison of QCEW employment data with other series

The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment measures for any given quarter. Each of these measures—the QCEW, BED, and CES—makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data. Each measure, however, has a somewhat different universe of coverage and estimation procedure, and each produces a different publication. Other data series are briefly covered here.

Business Employment Dynamics. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of the QCEW program. BED data are compiled by BLS from existing quarterly State UI records. Most employers in the United States are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI laws and to pay quarterly UI taxes. Quarterly UI reports are sent by State workforce agencies to the Bureau and form the basis of the BLS establishment sampling frame. These reports also are used to produce quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitudinal BED data on gross job gains and losses. Other important BLS uses of the UI reports are in the CES program.

In the BED program, the quarterly UI records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, in turn allowing the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding establishments and of jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.

Current Employment Statistics. BLS and State workforce agencies cooperate in the CES program. In this program, State agencies are responsible for preparing current employment estimates for the States and for many metropolitan labor market areas, while BLS is responsible for producing monthly employment estimates for the Nation. CES estimates of employment, average weekly and hourly earnings, and average weekly hours are derived from an employer survey of approximately 410,000 nonfarm establishments, selected primarily from the QCEW administrative records of UI-covered employers. The national and State industry CES estimates are then benchmarked annually to QCEW employment data. Supplemental sources are used in benchmarking industries that have workers that are not covered.

Current Population Survey. The Current Population Survey (CPS) is published monthly by BLS. CPS employment data are estimated from a survey of about 60,000 U.S. households, while QCEW employment data are summarized from quarterly reports submitted by 9.1 million U.S. establishments. CPS counts employed persons, whereas the QCEW program counts covered workers who earned wages during the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Consequently, CPS includes persons “with a job but not at work” who earn no wages—for example, workers on extended unpaid leaves of absence. QCEW data, by contrast, exclude unpaid workers. QCEW data count separately each job held by multiple jobholders. CPS counts such workers once, in the job at which they worked the most hours. CPS counts employed persons at their place of residence; the QCEW program counts jobs at the place of work. CPS also differs from the QCEW program, in that it includes self-employed persons; unpaid family workers employed 15 or more hours during the survey period; and a greater proportion of agricultural and domestic workers. CPS data exclude persons under age 16, while the QCEW program counts all covered workers, regardless of age.

Office of Personnel Management data. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) publishes a statistical series on Federal employment and payrolls with information on employing agencies, types of positions and appointments, and characteristics of employees. Data on Federal employment covered by the UCFE series provide industry, local area, and monthly employment detail not available in the OPM series.

Both UCFE and OPM data exclude members of the Armed Forces, temporary emergency workers employed to cope with catastrophes, and officers and crew members of some U.S. vessels. UCFE and OPM data differ in coverage of workers. For example, UCFE, but not OPM, includes Department of Defense workers paid from nonappropriated funds and employees of county agricultural stabilization and conservation committees, State and area marketing committees, and the Agricultural Extension Service. OPM, but not UCFE, includes workers who are not U.S. citizens and who are employed outside the United States and its territories; workers paid on a contract or fee basis; paid patients or inmates of Federal homes, hospitals, or institutions; and student employees of Federal hospitals, clinics, or laboratories.

The UCFE and OPM programs also differ in the payroll reference period. UCFE employment data relate to the payroll period that includes the 12th day of the month. OPM data, however, relate to persons employed on the last workday of the month, plus all intermittent employees.

County Business Patterns. Employment data collected through the QCEW program differ from employment data published in the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns (CBP) in the following major ways:

  • QCEW data are published each quarter, with a 6-month lag. CBP data are published annually, with approximately an 18-month lag.

  • QCEW data before 2001 were tabulated on the basis of the 1987 SIC system; data for 2001 through 2006 are tabulated on the basis of the 2002 NAICS, while data for 2007 forward are tabulated on the basis of the 2007 NAICS. Data for 1990–2000 are available through the QCEW NAICS history project. CBP data for 1997, and earlier, are tabulated on the basis of the SIC system; data for 1998 through 2002 are tabulated on the basis of the 1997 NAICS; data for 2003, and after, are based on the 2002 NAICS.

  • QCEW data include crop and animal production; the U.S. Postal Service; pension, health, welfare, and vacation funds; trusts, estates, and agency accounts; private households; and public administration. These sources of data are excluded from CBP.

  • QCEW data include most government employees. Most of these workers are excluded from CBP employment.

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QCEW-Related Monthly Labor Review Abstracts

Established in 1915, the Monthly Labor Review (Review) is the principal journal of fact, analysis, and research of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008 and 2009, the Review published several articles at least partly based on QCEW, Business Employment Dynamics (BED), or Unemployment Insurance (UI) data. These articles are listed and briefly summarized here.

Changes in State unemployment insurance legislation in 2007

January 2008, Vol. 131, No. 1

Loryn Lancaster

Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist, Division of Legislation, Office of Workforce Security, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

State enactments include provisions that relate to confidentiality and disclosure of unemployment compensation information, exclude "services" from the definition of employment, change rate schedules, address fraud and nonfraud benefit overpayments, provide for noncharging employers´ accounts for benefits paid, and address requirements for filing and reporting contributions.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/01/art2full.pdf

Studying the labor market using BLS labor dynamics data

February 2008, Vol. 131, No. 2

Zhi Boon

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Charles M. Carson

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Randy E. Ilg

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

R. Jason Faberman

Formerly of BLS, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Three relatively new data sources released by the BLS help analysts track the rich dynamics underlying the changes in employment and unemployment; these data add depth and context, and they ultimately provide a better understanding of movements in the labor market.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/02/art1full.pdf

The births and deaths of business establishments in the United States

December 2008, Vol. 131, No. 12

Akbar Sadeghi  

Economist, Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics economists have tested various methods for defining and counting births and deaths of establishments and businesses; the results of their research will allow BLS to better measure entrepreneurship in the United States.

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/12/art1full.pdf

Business employment dynamics: tabulations by size of employment change

April 2009, Vol. 132, No. 4

Sheryl L. Konigsberg

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

James R. Spletzer

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

David M. Talan

Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Business Employment Dynamics data are quarterly series of gross job gain and loss statistics for the U.S. economy; in autumn 2008, for the first time BLS published BED data that display gross job gain and loss statistics grouped by the number of jobs that were gained or lost.

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/04/art2full.pdf

Business employment dynamics: annual tabulations

May 2009, Vol. 132, No. 5

Akbar Sadeghi
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

James R. Spletzer
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

David M. Talan
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Business Employment Dynamics program releases quarterly gross job gain and gross job loss statistics, and this year it is releasing annual statistics for the first time; the annual data show over-the-year growth and decline of employment at the establishment level.

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/05/art3full.pdf

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Figures

Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2008 chartbook (complete book as PDF) 11.2MB

Page by page breakout:

  • Cover (PDF)
  • Preface (PDF)
  • Acknowledgments (PDF)
  • Contents (PDF)
  • FIGURE 1. Private-sector employment by industry, 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 2. Percent distribution of private-sector establishments and employment by size class (PDF)
  • FIGURE 3. Percent change in annual average private-sector employment and wages by industry, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 4. Percent change in employment in counties with 75,000 or more employees, March 2008–2009 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 5. Percent change in average weekly wage in counties with 75,000 or more employees, first quarter 2008–2009 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 6. Percent change in annual employment by State, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 7. Percent change in average weekly wage by State, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 8. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 9. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in construction, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 10. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in financial activities, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 11. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in retail trade, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 12. Quarterly number of births and deaths as a percent of total establishments (PDF)
  • FIGURE 13. Counties with the highest adjusted over-the-year percent growth in average weekly wages in 2008, by quarter (PDF)
  • FIGURE 14. Largest over-the-year changes in private-sector annual average employment by industry, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 15. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in manufacturing, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 16. Employment in the combined automobile manufacturing industries (NAICS 3361, 3362, and 3363), June 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 17. Employment in the automobile dealers industry (NAICS 4411), June 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 18. Employment location quotient in the automobile dealers industry (NAICS 4411), June 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 19. Average weekly wage in the combined automobile manufacturing industries (NAICS 3361, 3362, and 3363), second quarter 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 20. North Dakota private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 21. Over-the-year (OTY) change in private-sector employment in leisure and hospitality, 2005–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 22. Change in annual private-sector employment levels in New York County, New York, by selected industries, 2004–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 23. Change in average annual employment levels within selected healthcare industries, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 24. California employment and wages, 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 25. Percent change in residential building construction in Maryland, by economic development region, 2007–2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 26. Maine average weekly wages, third quarter 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 27. Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in education and health services, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
  • FIGURE 28. Uses of Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data (PDF)
  • Electronic version (PDF)

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Tables

  1. Total coverage (UI and UCFE) by ownership: Establishments, employment, and wages, 1999 to 2008 annual averages. (PDF)
  2. Private industry by six-digit NAICS industry and government by level of government, 2008 annual averages: Establishments, employment, and wages, change from 2007. (PDF)
  3. Private industry by supersector and size of establishment: Establishments and employment, first quarter 2008. (PDF)
  4. Private industry by supersector and size of establishment: Establishments and employment, first quarter 2008, by State. (PDF)
  5. Total coverage (UI and UCFE) by State, 2008 annual averages: Establishments, employment, and wages, change from 2007. (PDF)
  6. Private industry by State, 2008 annual averages: Establishments, employment, and wages, change from 2007. (PDF)
  7. Federal Government by State and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual averages. (PDF)
  8. 8.  State government by State and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual averages. (PDF)
  9. Local government by State and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual averages. (PDF)
  10. Private industry by State and six-digit NAICS industry: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual averages. (PDF) 3.6MB
  11. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the 335 largest counties, first quarter 2009. (PDF)
  12. Private-sector gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted, September 1992 to December 2008. (PDF)
  13. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted, December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)
  14. Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted, December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)
  15. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by State, seasonally adjusted, December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)

    16. (Back to top)

     

    Last Modified Date: June 8, 2010