Updated information on Occupational Employment Statistics methods and procedures can be found at http://www.bls.gov/oes/2003/may/appendix_b.pdf

Chapter 3.
Occupational Employment Statistics

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a periodic mail survey of nonfarm establishments that collects occupational employment data on workers by industry. The OES program surveys approximately 725,000 establishments in 400 detailed industries. The overall response rate is 79 percent. BLS provides the procedures and technical assistance for the survey; State employment security agencies collect the data. These data are used to estimate total employment by occupation for the Nation, each State, and selected areas.

Background
In 1971, questionnaires were sent to 50,000 manufacturing establishments throughout the United States, marking the beginning of the OES survey. This survey was conducted in cooperation with the Employment and Training Administration and 15 State employment security agencies. It was designed to obtain national, State, and area occupational estimates for the cooperating States. Following the completion of the manufacturing survey, similar surveys were developed for nonmanufacturing industries and State and local governments.

The OES survey follows a 3 year cycle. Three surveys are conducted alternately for manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, and the balance of nonmanufacturing industries. The manufacturing survey covers manufacturing industries, agricultural services, and hospitals. The nonmanufacturing survey covers mining; construction; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. The third survey covers the balance of the nonmanufacturing industries: Wholesale and retail trade; transportation; communications; public utilities; State and local government; and educational services. Hospitals were added to the manufacturing survey in 1980 and educational services were added to the third survey in 1985. Agricultural services were surveyed for the first time at the national level with the 1992 manufacturing survey. The 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa cooperate in this effort.

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