Differences Between Decennial Census and LAUS DataThe Census Bureau released Demographic Profile state and substate data from the 2000 Census on a state-by-state basis between May 7 and June 4, 2002. These tabulations included data on socioeconomic characteristics and labor force status for states, metropolitan areas, counties, and smaller units of geography. The Census-based labor force estimates may differ from the official labor force data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because of differences in methodology, design, and data collection. Background Every ten years, the Bureau of the Census conducts a census of the population. It is a snapshot of the population for one moment in time (April 1 of the Census year). The main purpose of this Census is to provide the population count needed for the re-apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and determination of State legislative district boundaries. The economic characteristics data from the 2000 Census are based on a systematic sample of approximately 17 percent of the Census households (i.e., every second, fourth, sixth, or eighth housing unit, depending on the population of the area). The questions on the long form address economic characteristics issues, including labor force. This invites comparison with the official labor force data from BLS that are developed by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. The Current Population Survey (CPS) has been the source of the official estimates of unemployment for the nation for more than half a century. The survey has been greatly expanded and improved over the years, but the basic concepts of employment and unemploymentreviewed periodically by high-ranking commissionshave remained substantially unaltered. At present, the CPS is the sole and official source of the monthly statistics on unemployment for the nation. It is the main input to the estimating models that produce the official monthly labor force estimates for all states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metropolitan division. Through the LAUS methodology, the CPS also affects estimates for nearly 7,200 substate areas. Information on unemployment has been obtained in decennial censuses since the late nineteenth century, although the current concepts were not introduced until 1940, concurrent with the origins of the CPS. There have always been differences in measured unemployment between the CPS and the Census. Prior to 1990, however, the Census-based estimates of the number unemployed had typically been lower than those from the CPS, although the gap had generally been closing over time. In 1950, the Census count of unemployed persons for the nation was about 19 percent lower than the April 1950 figure from the CPS. The gap shrank to about 4 percent in 1960 and about 1.5 percent in 1970, before widening slightly, to about 3 percent (lower) in 1980. Census unemployment rates were below or about the same as those from the CPS from 1950 to 1980. In 1990, for the first time, the Census-based estimates of both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate were considerably higher than the CPS figures, with the relative size of the gap being similar to that obtained in 1950, but in the opposite direction. Conceptual and methodological differences between the CPS and Census
Additional information For information on the decennial Census, visit the Census Bureau. For more information on the CPS, see Current Population Survey Design and Methodology (Technical Paper 63 Revised) ( PDF 3.11MB, 228 printed pages). For more information on the LAUS program visit State and Local Unemployment Rates.
Last Modified Date: September 29, 2005 |
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