Local Area Personal Income Methodology, 1996-2002

Three widely used measures of annual county employment and wages by place of work are employment and payroll data in the County Business Patterns (CBP) series from the Census Bureau, employment and wage tabulations from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and estimates of total wage and salary disbursements and employment from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). These measures differ in source data and coverage.

The CBP data on county employment and payrolls are derived from Census Bureau business establishment surveys and Federal administrative records. The QCEW data on county employment and wages are from the BLS tabulations of monthly employment and quarterly total wages of workers covered by state unemployment insurance (UI) and of Federal workers covered by unemployment compensation for Federal employees (UCFE). BEA's estimates of total employment and total wage and salary disbursements are primarily derived from the BLS data, but the estimates are also based on supplemental data from other agencies-such as the Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Railroad Retirement Board-for industries that are either not covered or that are not fully covered by the QCEW.¹

The coverage of the CBP data differs from that of the BLS data primarily because the CBP data exclude most government employees, while the BLS data cover civilian government employees.² The BLS data also include some employees in agricultural production and household employees that are excluded by the CBP data. However, the CBP data cover the employees of educational and membership organizations and of small nonprofit organizations in other industries more completely than the BLS data.

Beginning in 2001, both BLS and BEA include employees of Indian tribal governments and enterprises in local government. These employees were previously included in the relevant private industries.³ In the CBP data, these employees are classified in the relevant private industries.

Finally, CBP reports employment for the month of March. The BLS employment data are an annual average of monthly data.

The BEA estimates of employment and wages differ from the BLS data because BEA adjusts the estimates in order to account for employment and wages not covered, or not fully covered, by the state UI and the UCFE programs. BEA adds estimates of employment and wages to the BLS data to bridge small gaps in UI coverage for nonprofit organizations that do not participate in the UI program (several industries), for students and their spouses employed by public colleges or universities, for elected officials and members of the judiciary (state and local government), for interns employed by hospitals and by social service agencies, and for insurance agents classified as statutory employees (insurance agencies). In addition, BEA uses supplemental source data to estimate most or all of the employment and wages for the following: Farms, farm labor contractors, private households, private elementary and secondary schools, religious membership organizations, railroads, military, and U.S. residents who are employed by international organizations and by foreign embassies and consulates in the United States. BEA also adjusts employment and wages for unreported wages and salaries paid by employers and unreported tips.⁴

The Census Bureau released 2001 data on county total employment and payrolls on its Web site on April 10, 2003; go to http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html. BLS released 2002 annual county data on total employment and average annual pay on its Web site on December 18, 2003; go to www.bls.gov/cew/. BEA released the 2002 estimates and the revised 1969-2001 estimates of total wage employment and total wage and salary disbursements for counties on its Web site on March 18, 2004. To access the data, go to www.bea.gov/regional/reis/.

National Estimates of Wages and Salaries in the BEA County Estimates and Payrolls and Wages From the Census Bureau and BLS

[Billions of dollars]

	2000	2001	2002
Total payroll, Census Bureau	3,879.4	3,989.1	n.a.
Plus: Differences in coverage:
Civilian government wages, BLS	700.1	737.7	n.a.
Other differences, net¹	8.2	-31.6	n.a.
Equals: Total wages, BLS	4,587.7	4,695.2	4,714.4
Plus: Adjustments by BEA:
For unreported wages and unreported tips on employment tax returns	99.8	104.3	108.3
For selected industries²	113.0	113.8	121.4
Other adjustments³	25.4	25.9	25.9
Equals: Wage and salary disbursements, BEA	4,825.9	4,939.2	4,970.0

1. Includes differences of coverage in private education, membership organizations, and government.
2. Consists of the difference between estimates from more comprehensive source data and BLS wages and salaries for agriculture, forestry, and fishing; railroad transportation; health services; educational services; social services; membership organizations; private households; and the Federal government.
3. Consists of wages and salaries for insurance agents classified as statutory employees, for students and their spouses employed by public colleges or universities, for the nonprofit organizations not participating in the UI program, for judicial fees paid to jurors and witnesses, for compensation of prison inmates, for marriage and license fees paid to justices of the peace, and of other coverage adjustments.
n.a. Not available

Footnotes

1. The QCEW data account for 95 percent of the wages and salaries in BEA's personal income estimates.
2. The CBP data cover only those government employees who work in government hospitals, federally chartered savings institutions and credit unions, liquor stores, and wholesale liquor establishments.
3. For example, employees of casinos owned by tribal councils were included in the North American Industry Classification System subsector "Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries."
4. For a detailed description of the sources and methods used to prepare the estimates, go to BEA's Web site at . Updates to this methodology are forthcoming.