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October 2003, Vol. 126, No. 10

Report

Patricia M. Getz
Chief, Division of Current Employment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics
E-mail: getz_p@bls.gov

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Excerpt from the report:

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces monthly estimates of nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings for the Nation, States, and major metropolitan areas in considerable industry detail. These data are among the earliest and most closely watched economic indicator series. In addition, the CES publishes monthly series on women workers by industry.

Currently, CES average weekly hours and average hourly earnings series, and their derivatives, such as the index of aggregate hours, are limited to covering production and nonsupervisory workers in the private sector. A production worker concept is used for the goods-producing industries, and a nonsupervisory worker concept for the service-providing industries. The earnings are defined as "regular earnings" and, as such, they exclude bonuses and other irregular payments.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics plans two major changes to the data series available from CES. These changes follow several years of research, testing, and consultation with major data users. The principal aspects of the changes are:

• Expansion of the hours and earnings series to cover all employees rather than just production and nonsupervisory workers.
• Discontinuation of the women worker series.
• Potential addition of a total wages series, that will include nonwage cash payments such as bonuses and stock options.

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