The state government employment and payroll data are available in ASCII text format, Excel spreadsheets, and viewable tables. These statistics cover summary information on the number of employees and gross payrolls by government function for each of the fifty state governments. Employment and gross payroll data pertain to March (October for years prior to 1997). Gross payrolls are 31-day monthly equivalent values and are in whole dollars. The state government data are not subject to sampling.

Effect of the 2005 Weather Disasters in Louisiana and Mississippi on Public Employment Information. In certain areas, the 2005 weather disasters in Louisiana and Mississippi resulted in response rates for the local governments that compromised the statistical accuracy in those areas. As a result, we added cautionary notes for the Louisiana and Mississippi tables in this release. The specific effects were as follows:

• U. S. Totals. The U. S. totals released in this report met the Census Bureau’s statistical standards. Louisiana and Mississippi local governments comprise such a relatively small amount of the national totals – less than three percent in the March 2005 report – that the amount of local government nonresponse in those states had little impact on the public employment and payroll data at the national level.

• State Government Totals in Louisiana and Mississippi. State governments in both Louisiana and Mississippi responded to the survey. Totals reported in the State Government tables are fully compliant with Census Bureau standards on response rates.

• State and Local Government Totals in Mississippi and Louisiana. Only the highest level of detail – totals for employment and payroll – met Census Bureau statistical standards. Due to low response rates, particularly in those places hardest hit by the weather disaster, data are not available for detailed items in the State and Local tables for Mississippi and Louisiana. See the discussion of imputation under the Data Processing Section for more detail.

• Local Government Totals in Mississippi and Louisiana. The local government response rates for both Mississippi and Louisiana Total Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) and Total Payroll fell below the Census Bureau’s standard of 70 percent and are not being published. Data are also not available for detailed items in the tables for these two states. See the discussion of imputation under the Data Processing Section for more detail.

• Individual Governments – Reporting Units in Mississippi and Louisiana. Data for reporting units in Mississippi and Louisiana are available in the Individual Unit Data File in the Downloadable Data Section.