Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2008
The annual bulletin Employment and Wages contains employment
and wage data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program
aggregated by State and industry and by county. The latest bulletin, Employment
and Wages, Annual Averages 2008, will be available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. The
material cited below is drawn from this publication, which is largely CD-based.
Text references to the CD are not modified in the web version.
Preface
This edition continues the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS or the Bureau) efforts to make the bulletin on employment and wages more
user-friendly. Most notably, data tables and the text describing the
characteristics and uses of the data are published exclusively in digital
formats and included on the enclosed CD. (Formerly, the data and its
description were printed as a book with nearly 700 pages.) All tables on this
CD are available as PDF files. Also, all data for 2008, at each level of
geography, are provided as sequential (flat) files on the enclosed CD.
Alternatively, all data and tables provided on the enclosed CD can be found at www.bls.gov/cew. Questions regarding
these data can be addressed to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
(QCEW) program by calling (202) 691-6567 or by using any of the channels
provided on the QCEW contact page on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewcont.htm.
Included on the CD for the 2008 bulletin are PDFs of the
quarterly County Employment and Wages news releases produced by the QCEW
program as well as PDFs of all 2008 QCEW news releases published by regional
offices of the BLS. County Employment and Wages news releases present
employment and wages by county and are released approximately 6 months after
the reference quarter. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) news releases present
gross job gains and losses and are released approximately 8 months after the
reference quarter. (These BED data were first released in September 2003.)
Questions about BED data can be directed to the information line at (202)
691-6467 and the program’s Web site is www.bls.gov/bdm/.
All data, at each level of geography, can be found at www.bls.gov/cew/. Additionally, all tables
in this publication are available as PDFs on the above Web site. Questions
regarding these data can be addressed to the QCEW program by calling (202)
691-6567 or by email.
Material
in this publication is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may
be reproduced without permission. This information is available to
sensory-impaired individuals on request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal
Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.
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Acknowledgments
The following
members of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics prepared this bulletin: Michael B. Buso, Jennifer
Cheng, John Dickson, Paul E. Ferree, David R. H. Hiles, David A. Ivory, Spencer
A. Jobe, Keith G. Keel, Mike McCall, Jay Miller, Akbar Sadeghi, Masa Shirako,
Eric Simants, Peter Smith, Robert Viégas, Linda Wohlford and Phoebe Yung of the
Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Richard L. Clayton,
Chief. Data were prepared and processed by Zipora Abzug, Barbara Athey, Noel
Cox, Patricia Felder, Jacob Gabiam, John Kennedy, Stephen Lashick, Ali Latif,
Larry Lie, Sandra Logan, Reuel Paredes, William Plaskie, Carolyn Raines-Fein,
Ana Reyes, Kimberly Stephens, Shirley Tsai, Natasha
Tsyryulnikova, and Pat Walker of the Division of
Business Establishment Systems, Arthur Yao, Chief. Cover art,
typesetting, and layout were furnished by Bruce Boyd, and editorial services
were provided by Monica Gabor of the Office of Publications and Special
Studies.
BLS wishes to
express its appreciation to U.S. employers for their continued cooperation in
providing establishment-level data on the Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) form.
This information for each business location is critical to the accurate
distribution of employment and wage data to the appropriate geographical area
and specific industry. If businesses did not provide this level of detail, the
quality of the data would be adversely affected.
State
workforce agencies that collect data from employers also play a major role in
this ongoing program. The efforts of staff at these agencies in verifying,
editing, and supplying high-quality data to BLS are essential to the accuracy
of this bulletin and are appreciated. We also would like to express our
gratitude for the dedicated work of the BLS staff in the Electronic Data
Interchange Center and in the regional offices for their ongoing efforts to
improve the quality of data provided in this bulletin.
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Introduction
Data
contained in this bulletin represent the complete and final count of employment
and wages for workers covered by State Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws
and the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program during 2008 for the 50 States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Data are aggregated by
geography at the county, metropolitan statistical area, combined statistical
area, State, and national levels; by ownership under private industry or
Federal, State, or local government; and by industry as defined under the 2007 North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS). County,
State, and national level aggregates appear in the tables in this publication.
These data are the product of a Federal-State
cooperative program, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), also
referenced as ES-202. State workforce agencies compile the data for
both private- and public-sector workers from reports
filed by employers each quarter and report it to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS; the Bureau).
In 2008, BLS derived totals of
9.1 million establishments, 134.8 million employed, and $6.1 trillion in wages,
from reports submitted to State workforce agencies by every employer covered by
UI or by UCFE. Of these employers, those in private industry provided State
workforce agencies with quarterly tax reports on monthly employment, quarterly
total and taxable wages, and contributions for an average of 113.2 million wage
and salary employees in approximately 8.8 million business establishments. Similar reports of monthly employment and
quarterly wages were submitted by the Federal Government for 2.8 million
civilian employees, by State governments for 4.6 million employees, and by
local governments for 14.2 million employees. UI-covered employment reported by
these sources constituted a virtual census (97.1 percent) of employees on
nonfarm payrolls. The principal exclusions from UI and UCFE coverage are cited
in Characteristics and Uses of the Data, which follows this
introduction. BLS presents data by ownership, industry, and State. These data
include the average number of establishments, average annual employment, total
wages, and annual and average weekly wages per employee. Additionally, the
Bureau publishes national employment and wage totals for 11 supersectors, 20
sectors, and all 1,193 six-digit NAICS industries. County-level data include
number of establishments, December employment, and average weekly wage.
Private-sector data are presented by State, from the total private ownership
level to the 6-digit industry level. Private-sector data also are presented by national
gross job gains and losses. State, local, and Federal Government data are
detailed for selected industries.
QCEW
data for 2007 forward are classified according to the 2007 North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS). 2007 NAICS coding represents a
relatively minor revision to the 2002 NAICS system that had been in use with
QCEW data beginning with the release of 2001 data. However, at the detailed
industry level, some of the changes are substantial. Some industries were
added, some were deleted, and others were split into two or more industries.
Table 2 on the accompanying CD, which displays over-the-year changes by
industry, will therefore show significant gains and losses for those industries
introduced with or modified by this revision; such changes should be considered
noneconomic in nature and should not be compared or contrasted with those
economic gains or losses observed in industries not affected by this revision.
In first quarter 2007, approximately 1 percent of both employment and
establishments and 2 percent of total wages were reclassified into different
industries as a result of the revision. Industries introduced with 2007 NAICS
are:
- 517210
Wireless telecommunications carriers
- 517911
Telecommunications resellers
- 517919
All other telecommunications
- 51913
Internet publishing and web search portals
- 519130
Internet publishing and web search portals
- 541711
Research and development in biotechnology
- 541712
Other physical and biological research
- 561311
Employment placement agencies
- 561312
Executive search services
2002 NAICS industries deleted with the revision will not
appear in table 2, although the loss of establishments, employment, and wages
may be visible at higher levels of aggregation. Six-digit industries that were
split into two or more industries with this revision include:
- 111211
Potato farming
- 111219
Other vegetable (except potato) and melon farming
- 111998
All other miscellaneous crop farming
- 112519
Other aquaculture
- 314999
All other miscellaneous textile product mills
- 315211
Men’s and boys’ cut and sew apparel contractors
- 315212
Women’s, girls’, and infants’ cut and sew apparel contractors
- 326199
All other plastics products manufacturing
- 326291
Rubber product manufacturing use
- 326299
All other rubber product manufacturing
- 333298
All other industrial machinery manufacturing
- 333415
Air-conditioning and warm air heating equipment and commercial and
industrial refrigeration equipment manufacturing
- 333994
Industrial process furnace and oven manufacturing
-
333997
Scale and balance manufacturing
- 333999
All other miscellaneous general purpose machinery manufacturing
- 334220
Radio and television broadcasting and wireless communications equipment
manufacturing
- 334515
Instrument manufacturing for measuring and testing electricity and
electrical signals
- 336612
Boat building
- 337127
Institutional furniture manufacturing
- 339113
Surgical appliance and supplies manufacturing
- 517110
Wired telecommunication carriers
- 525990
Other financial vehicles
- 531110
Lessors of resident buildings and dwellings
- 531120
Lessors of nonresidential buildings (except miniwarehouses)
- 531130
Lessors of miniwarehouses and self-storage units
- 531190
Lessors of other real estate property
- 541612
Human resources and executive search consulting services
Users interested in more information about NAICS can access
the BLS Web page at www.bls.gov/bls/NAICS.htm and the U.S. Census Bureau Web page at www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.
Tables identifying the relationship between 2007 NAICS and 2002 NAICS can be
found at www.census.gov/naics/2007/index.html.
The NAICS 2007 manual may be obtained by accessing the Web page of the National
Technical Information Service (NTIS) at www.ntis.gov/ and selecting “Best Sellers.”
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Characteristics
and uses of the data
Characteristics
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
compiled the data in this publication as part of the operations of its
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Data are derived from
the quarterly tax reports submitted to State workforce agencies by employers,
subject to State UI laws and from Federal agencies subject to the Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Each quarter, State agencies
edit and process the data and send the information to the Bureau’s national
office in Washington, DC. The QCEW program provides the most complete set of
monthly employment and quarterly wage data by 6-digit industry at the national,
State, combined metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan statistical area,
and county levels. Data have broad economic significance for the evaluation of
labor market trends and major industry developments, for time-series analyses,
and for interindustry comparisons.
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Uses of the data
The Bureau
of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce uses QCEW data as a
base for developing the wage and salary component of personal income, part of
the National Income and Product Accounts. QCEW wages accounted for 50.2 percent
of total personal income and 93.8 percent of the wage and salary component of
personal income in 2008.
The Social Security
Administration (SSA) uses QCEW data as a quality check against data
provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This allows SSA to
improve its estimates of Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
and Hospital Insurance (HI) covered and taxable wages and employment for the
most recent historical periods. This, in turn, allows the Treasury
to make more accurate transfers from the general fund to the OASDI and HI trust
funds. For the annual Trustees Reports, this provides legislators
and the general public with more accurate estimates of the effects of present
and proposed legislation on the future status of the OASDI and HI trust funds.
SSA also uses QCEW
data as a quality check against data provided by employers on Forms W-2.
This allows them to improve their estimates of the average U.S.
wage for the latest prior historical year. Each October, the SSA
estimates the annual U.S. wage for the prior year to set the Average Wage Index
(AWI) for that year. This, in turn, is used to set automatic adjustments
in the contribution and benefit base, bend points, earnings test exempt
amounts, and other wage-indexed amounts for the upcoming year.
QCEW data are used by businesses
and by public and private research organizations for economic forecasting,
transportation planning, industry and regional analysis, impact studies, and
other tasks.
The QCEW program provides data
necessary to both the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S.
Department of Labor and State workforce agencies for use in administering the
workforce security program. Data accurately reflect the extent of coverage of
State UI laws and are used to measure UI revenues; national, State, and local
area employment; and total and UI-taxable wage trends. The information is used
as an input for actuarial studies, determination of employer UI tax experience
ratings, and UI maximum weekly benefit levels. Research using QCEW data helps
measure the solvency of UI trust funds. QCEW data also are used to compute
State and national insured unemployment rates for workers covered by UI
programs.
QCEW data also are important for
a variety of other BLS programs. A quarterly file containing employer name and
address information serves as a sampling frame for BLS establishment-based
surveys, such as the National Compensation Survey, the Current Employment
Statistics (CES) program, the Employment Cost Index (ECI), the Injuries,
Illness, and Fatalities (IIF) program, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Survey (JOLTS), and the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey. QCEW
data also serve as the basic source of benchmark information for employment by
industry in the CES program, the IIF program, and the OES Survey.
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How to obtain
publications and data
Recent and historical data may
be obtained from the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew.
Previous editions of Employment and Wages Annual Averages are out
of print, but file copies may be examined at the BLS Washington office and at
Federal Depository Libraries. For assistance in obtaining QCEW data, a QCEW
analyst can be reached by telephone at (202) 691-6567, or by e-mail at www.bls.gov/cew/cewcont.htm. Requests also may be sent by mail to the
Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Division of Administrative
Statistics and Labor Turnover, Room 4840, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212. The request should include the name
and telephone number of an individual whom BLS staff may contact, if necessary.
Most State workforce agencies
have QCEW employment and wage data for both the private and government sectors
by county and for major labor market areas. If data provided by the BLS Web
site are insufficient, requests for these detailed data should be made directly
to State agencies. Data for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also
available and may be obtained from the State workforce agencies in those
jurisdictions.
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Unemployment
insurance laws and coverage
Initially, the Federal
Unemployment Insurance Tax Act (1938) applied only to firms employing at least
8 persons for a minimum of 20 weeks in a calendar year and excluded certain categories
of workers. Amendments to Title XV of the Social Security Act established the
UCFE program, which extended coverage to Federal civilian employees effective
January 1, 1955, and to workers in firms employing from four to seven workers
effective January 1, 1956.
Federal legislation, effective
January 1, 1972, extended coverage of State UI systems to firms employing one
worker or more in 28 States and expanded some of the statutory coverage
provisions. (The remaining States previously had extended coverage to these
small employers.) The 1972 legislation also brought coverage to employees of
State hospitals, colleges, and universities.
The Federal Unemployment
Compensation Amendments of 1976 incorporated major changes in State UI laws
effective January 1, 1978. Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA),
States expanded coverage to include nearly all remaining State and local
government employees, employees of nonprofit elementary and secondary schools,
and certain domestic workers. Some States began implementing the amendments as
early as 1976. The law also brought the U.S. Virgin Islands under the UI
system.
The 1976 amendments covered
agricultural labor if performed for an employer who, in any calendar quarter in
the current or preceding calendar year, paid cash remuneration of $20,000 or
more to individuals employed in agricultural labor. The 1976 amendments also
apply to employers who, on each of some 20 days in 20 different weeks during
the current or preceding calendar year, employed at least 10 individuals in
agricultural labor.
Under a 1981 Supreme Court
ruling, schools affiliated with religious organizations are not required to be
covered under the UI system. Many of these schools, however, continue to cover
their employees on a voluntary basis. Special provisions for railroad workers
are made through the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Data for workers
covered under the Railroad Retirement Board and for those covered under the
Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemen (UCX) program are excluded from the
tables in this publication.
While coverage is largely
consistent, comparisons of data from one State to another should take into
consideration the differences in UI laws among States. In addition, when
UI-covered private-industry employment data are compared directly with other
employment series, the coverage exclusions should be taken into account. Table
A quantifies some of the exclusions in 2008.
Table
A. Coverage exclusions in 2008, for selected workers
Group |
Number Excluded
(in millions) |
Number Included
(in millions)
|
Wage and salary agricultural workers |
0.1 |
1.2 |
Self-employed farmers1 |
0.9 |
Not covered |
Self-employed nonagricultural workers1 |
9.2 |
Not covered |
Domestic workers |
0.2 |
0.6 |
Unpaid family workers1 |
0.1 |
Not covered |
State and local government workers |
0.9 |
18.9 |
Railroad workers |
0.2 |
<0.1 |
1These are out-of-scope groups, according to QCEW criteria.
In a number of States, certain types
of nonprofit employers, such as religious organizations, are given a choice of
coverage or exclusion. Under FUTA, all States must cover nonprofits that employ
four or more workers. Some States have extended coverage to nonprofits
employing one or more workers. Details on coverage laws are provided in Comparison
of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, available on request from the
Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, www.doleta.gov/.
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Industrial classification
Since 1938, employment and wage
data developed in the QCEW program have been classified by industry. An
industrial code, based on a description provided by the employer on a
questionnaire, is assigned to each establishment by the State workforce agency.
If a private or government employer conducts different activities at various
establishments or installations, separate industrial codes are assigned, to the
extent possible, to each establishment.
Data presented in this bulletin
are classified in accordance with the 2007 North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS). Previously, beginning with the release of data
for 2001, publications presenting QCEW data used the 2002 version of NAICS as
the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS
is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies
of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in structure
between NAICS and the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system that was
previously used, industry data for 2001 forward are not comparable to the
SIC-based data for earlier years.
NAICS uses a production-oriented
approach to categorize economic units. Units with similar production processes
are classified into the same industry. NAICS focuses on how products and
services are created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced.
The NAICS approach yields industry groupings that are significantly different
from those obtained with the SIC approach.
Data users will be able to work with NAICS industrial
groupings that better reflect the workings of the U.S. economy. For example,
the industry sector called information brings together units that turn information into a
commodity with units that distribute that commodity. The major components for
information are publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications, information
services, and data processing. Under the SIC system, these units were spread
across the manufacturing, communications, business services, and amusement
services groups. Another sector of interest is professional and technical
services. This sector consists of establishments engaged in activities into
which human capital is the major input.
The 2007 NAICS manual defines
the following categories of industries:
•
20 sectors
•
99 subsectors
•
313 four-digit industry groups
•
721 five-digit NAICS industries
•
1,175 six-digit industries.
BLS has extended
the NAICS coding upwards into 2 domains and 11 supersectors.
BLS also has extended NAICS
downward into subsector 238, specialty trade contractors, dividing the
19 industries into residential and nonresidential categories. BLS files include
totals for unclassified records at each NAICS level of aggregation. Unclassified,
NAICS 999999, is its own supersector under the service-producing domain.
The industry categories under subsector 238 and the inclusion of unclassified bring the number of 6-digit industries to 1,195. Yet, there are two 6-digit
industries not used in the United States: Dual purpose cattle ranching and
farming, NAICS 112130, and offices of notaries, NAICS 541120.
Thus, the number of 6-digit industries for which BLS publishes data is 1,193.
BLS publishes NAICS industry
data under the principle that, as long as there is additional detail to be
gained by publishing the next lower level, the Bureau will do so. This
principle of congruent data means that BLS will publish all data to the 6-digit industry level if there are
two or more 6-digit industries below a 5-digit NAICS industry level. If there
is only one such industry, BLS publishes data for only the 5-digit level.
Likewise, if there is only one 6-digit industry and one 5-digit NAICS industry
under a 4-digit industry group, BLS will publish data for only the 4-digit
industry group. At this time, there are 7 four-digit industry groups that roll
up to the 3-digit subsector level, 65 five-digit NAICS industries that roll up
to the 4-digit industry group level, and 406 six-digit industries that roll up
to the 5-digit NAICS industry level. There are also 65 six-digit industries
that roll up to the 4-digit level and 7 six-digit industries that roll up to
the 3-digit level.
Additionally, there are two
6-digit industries that have a significant last digit of “0”: Commercial
lithographic printing, NAICS 323110, and electromedical apparatus
manufacturing, NAICS 334510. Both of the 5-digit NAICS industries have 10
six-digit industries under them. Thus, NAICS codes should not be padded with
zeroes.
To ensure the highest possible
quality of data, State workforce agencies verify and update, if necessary, the NAICS,
location, and ownership classifications of virtually all establishments on a
4-year cycle. Information for government units in the public administration
sector, however, is verified less frequently. Each year, changes in
establishment classification codes resulting from the verification process are
introduced with the data reported for the first quarter.
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Employment
In general, QCEW monthly
employment data represent the number of covered workers who worked during, or
received pay for, the pay period that included the 12th day of the month.
Virtually all workers are reported in the State in which their jobs are
located.
Covered private-industry
employment includes most corporate officials, executives,
supervisory personnel, professionals, clerical workers, wage earners,
piece-workers, and part-time workers. It excludes proprietors, the
unincorporated self-employed, unpaid family members, and certain farm and
domestic workers.
Persons
on paid sick leave, paid holiday, paid vacation, and the like are also
included. Persons on the payroll of more than one firm during the period are
counted by each UI-subject employer, if they meet the employment definition
noted previously. Workers are counted even though, in the latter months of the
year, their wages may not be subject to UI tax. The employment count excludes
workers who earned no wages during the entire applicable pay period because of
work stoppages, temporary layoffs, illness, or unpaid vacations.
Employment
data reported for Federal civilian employees are a byproduct of the operations
of State workforce agencies in administering the provisions of Title XV of the
Social Security Act—the UCFE program. Federal employment data are based on
reports of monthly employment and quarterly wages submitted each quarter to
State agencies for all Federal installations with employees covered by the Act,
except for certain national security agencies, which are omitted for security reasons.
Employment
at all Federal agencies for any given month is based on the number of persons
who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period that included the 12th
of the month.
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Establishments and employment size
An
establishment is an economic unit, such as a farm, mine, factory, or store that
produces goods or provides services. It is typically at a single physical location
and engaged in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity for which a
single industrial classification may be applied. Occasionally, a single
physical location encompasses two or more distinct and significant activities.
Each activity is reported as a separate establishment, if separate records are
kept, and the various activities are classified under different NAICS
industries.
Most
employers have only one establishment; thus, the establishment is the
predominant reporting unit or statistical entity for reporting employment and
wage data. Most employers who operate more than one establishment in a State
file a Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) each quarter, in addition to their
quarterly UI report. The MWR form is used to collect separate employment and
wage data for each of the employer’s establishments. Such data are not detailed
on the UI report. Some employers with two or more very small establishments do
not file an MWR. If the total employment in an employer’s secondary
establishments (all establishments other than the largest) is 10 or less, the
employer generally files a consolidated report for all establishments. Also,
some employers either cannot, or will not, report at the establishment level
and, thus, aggregate establishments into one consolidated unit—or possibly
several units—though not at the establishment level.
Before
1991, employers provided covered employment and wage data on a reporting
unit basis. Reporting unit data typically furnished detail only for
different county locations or industrial operations within a State. A
nonstandard form, similar in concept to the MWR and called the Statistical
Supplement, was used by States to collect these county industry data. Although
reporting units were, for the most part, individual establishments, employers
could provide a summary of their employment and wage data for multiple
establishments within a county that were conducting the same type of industrial
activity. For example, a fast-food business might have submitted a single report
that covered all of its operations within a county prior to 1991; on the MWR,
the employer reports employment and wage data for each location.
For
government, the reporting unit is the installation: a single location at which
a department, agency, or other government body has civilian employees. Federal
agencies follow slightly different criteria than do private employers, when
breaking down their reports by installation. They are permitted to combine as a
single statewide unit all installations with 10 or fewer workers, if those
installations belong to the same subdepartmental unit. Reports from
Cabinet-level departments are not aggregated to a department-wide level.
Departments submit separate reports for each bureau or agency (terminology for
subdepartmental units may differ) within a given department. Independent
agencies report on an agency-wide basis. As a result of these reporting rules,
the number of reporting units is always larger than the number of employers (or
government agencies), but smaller than the number of actual establishments (or
installations).
Data
reported for the first quarter of 2008 were tabulated into size categories,
ranging from worksites with few employees to those with 1,000 or more
employees. The size category is determined by the establishment’s March
employment level. It is important to note that data for each establishment of a
multi-establishment firm are tabulated separately into the appropriate size
category. The total employment level of the reporting multi-establishment firm
is not used in the size tabulation.
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Wages
Total
wages. Covered employers in most States
report total compensation paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of when
the services were performed. A few State laws, however, specify that wages be
reported for, or be based on, the period during which services are
performed—rather than for the period during which compensation is paid. Under
most State laws or regulations, wages include bonuses, stock options, severance
pay, the cash value of meals and lodging, tips and other gratuities, and—in
some States—employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans, such
as 401(k) plans.
Covered
employer contributions for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance; health
insurance; UI; workers’ compensation; and private pension and welfare funds are
not reported as wages. Employee contributions for the same purposes, however,
as well as money withheld for income taxes, union dues, and so forth are
reported, even though they are deducted from the worker’s gross pay.
Average wages. Average
annual wages per employee for any given industry are computed by dividing total
annual wages by annual average employment. A further division by 52 yields
average weekly wages per employee. Annual pay data only approximate annual
earnings, because an individual may not be employed by the same employer all
year or may work for more than one employer at a time.
Average
weekly or annual pay is affected by the ratio of full-time to part-time
workers, as well as by the numbers of individuals in high- and low-paying
occupations. When comparing average pay levels among States and industries,
data users should take these factors into consideration. For example,
industries characterized by high proportions of part-time workers will show
average weekly wage levels appreciably less than the weekly pay levels of
regular full-time employees in these industries. The opposite is true of industries
with low proportions of part-time workers and of industries that typically
schedule heavy weekend and overtime work. Average wage data also may be
influenced by work stoppages, labor turnover, retroactive payments, seasonal
factors, and bonus payments.
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Business Employment Dynamics
The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of the QCEW program. BED data are compiled by BLS from existing quarterly State UI records for nonhousehold employers and are supplemented with MWR records. In the BED program, UI records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each privately owned establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.
The linkage process initially matches establishments´ unique UI identification numbers assigned by the State workforce agencies. Between 95 and 97 percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter are matched by UI numbers. The rest are linked in one of three ways. The first method uses predecessor and successor information, identified by the State workforce agencies, to relate records with different UI numbers across quarters. Predecessor and successor relationships can come about for a variety of reasons, including a change in ownership, a firm´s restructuring, or a UI account´s restructuring. If a match cannot be attained in this manner, a probability-based match is used. This match attempts to identify two establishments with different UI numbers as continuous. The match is based upon establishments having the same business name, address, and phone number. Third, an analyst examines unmatched records individually and attempts to make a possible match.
The change in employment at the establishment level results from one of four types of events. An increase in employment can come from either opening establishments or expanding establishments. A decrease in employment can come from either closing establishments or contracting establishments. Gross job gains include the sum of all jobs added at either opening or expanding establishments. Gross job losses include the sum of all jobs lost in either closing or contracting establishments. The net change in employment is the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.
The formal definitions of establishment-level employment changes are as follows:
Openings.
These are establishments either with positive third-month employment for the
first time in the current quarter and with no links to the previous quarter or
with positive third-month employment in the current quarter following zero
employment in the previous quarter.
Expansions.
These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both
the previous and current quarters and with an increase in employment over this
period.
Closings.
These are establishments with positive third-month employment in the previous
quarter and with either no employment or zero employment reported in the
current quarter.
Contractions. These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both
the previous and current quarters and with a decrease in employment from the
previous to the current quarter.
All
establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third month of
each quarter. Not all establishments change their employment levels; these
establishments count towards estimates of total employment, but not for levels
of gross job gains and gross job losses.
With the publication of its
first quarter data for 2007, the BED program announced a one-time revision to
its historical data series. According to this announcement, all
historical BED series back to third quarter 1992 have been revised for both
seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted series to incorporate updated
and improved input data. In the future, annual revisions to BED series will be
published each year with the release of first quarter data. Those revisions
will cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and 5 years
of seasonally adjusted data.
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Disclosure restrictions
In accordance with BLS policy, data reported under a promise of confidentiality
are not published in an identifiable way and are used only for specified
statistical purposes. BLS withholds the publication of UI-covered employment
and wage data for any industry level when necessary to protect the identity of
cooperating employers. Totals at the industry level for the States and the
Nation include the undisclosed data suppressed within the detailed tables.
However, these totals do not reveal the suppressed data.
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Imputed data
To reduce
the effect of the exclusion of data because of late reporting by covered
private and government employers, State agencies impute employment and wages
for such employers and include them in ea ch quarterly report. Corrections to
data that may be entered after a report is filed include replacement of
imputations with reported data to the extent possible. Imputations are
calculated at the individual establishment level, normally from historical data
reported by the employer. Sometimes trends reported by employers in the same
industry and information obtained from other sources also are used. If a report
remains delinquent for more than one quarter and research shows that it is
still active, the data for the establishment will again be imputed.
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Comparison of
QCEW employment data with other series
The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment measures for any
given quarter. Each of these measures—the QCEW, BED, and CES—makes use of the
quarterly UI employment reports in producing data. Each measure, however, has a
somewhat different universe of coverage and estimation procedure, and each
produces a different publication. Other data series are briefly covered here.
Business Employment Dynamics. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of the QCEW program. BED data are compiled by BLS from existing quarterly State UI records. Most employers in the United States are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI laws and to pay quarterly UI taxes. Quarterly UI reports are sent by State workforce agencies to the Bureau and form the basis of the BLS establishment sampling frame. These reports also are used to produce quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitudinal BED data on gross job gains and losses. Other important BLS uses of the UI reports are in the CES program.
In the BED program, the quarterly UI records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, in turn allowing the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding establishments and of jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.
Current Employment Statistics. BLS and State workforce agencies cooperate in the CES
program. In this program, State agencies are responsible for preparing current
employment estimates for the States and for many metropolitan labor market
areas, while BLS is responsible for producing monthly employment estimates for
the Nation. CES estimates of employment, average weekly and hourly earnings,
and average weekly hours are derived from an employer survey of approximately
410,000 nonfarm establishments, selected primarily from the QCEW administrative
records of UI-covered employers. The national and State industry CES estimates
are then benchmarked annually to QCEW employment data. Supplemental sources are
used in benchmarking industries that have workers that are not covered.
Current Population Survey. The Current Population Survey (CPS) is published monthly by BLS. CPS
employment data are estimated from a survey of about 60,000 U.S. households,
while QCEW employment data are summarized from quarterly reports submitted by
9.1 million U.S. establishments. CPS counts employed persons, whereas the QCEW
program counts covered workers who earned wages during the pay period that
includes the 12th of the month. Consequently, CPS includes persons “with a job
but not at work” who earn no wages—for example, workers on extended unpaid
leaves of absence. QCEW data, by contrast, exclude unpaid workers. QCEW data
count separately each job held by multiple jobholders. CPS counts such workers
once, in the job at which they worked the most hours. CPS counts employed
persons at their place of residence; the QCEW program counts jobs at the place
of work. CPS also differs from the QCEW program, in that it includes
self-employed persons; unpaid family workers employed 15 or more hours during
the survey period; and a greater proportion of agricultural and domestic
workers. CPS data exclude persons under age 16, while the QCEW program counts
all covered workers, regardless of age.
Office of
Personnel Management data. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
publishes a statistical series on Federal employment and payrolls with
information on employing agencies, types of positions and appointments, and
characteristics of employees. Data on Federal employment covered by the UCFE
series provide industry, local area, and monthly employment detail not
available in the OPM series.
Both UCFE and OPM data exclude
members of the Armed Forces, temporary emergency workers employed to cope with
catastrophes, and officers and crew members of some U.S. vessels. UCFE and OPM
data differ in coverage of workers. For example, UCFE, but not OPM, includes
Department of Defense workers paid from nonappropriated funds and employees of
county agricultural stabilization and conservation committees, State and area
marketing committees, and the Agricultural Extension Service. OPM, but not
UCFE, includes workers who are not U.S. citizens and who are employed outside
the United States and its territories; workers paid on a contract or fee basis;
paid patients or inmates of Federal homes, hospitals, or institutions; and
student employees of Federal hospitals, clinics, or laboratories.
The UCFE and OPM programs also
differ in the payroll reference period. UCFE employment data relate to the
payroll period that includes the 12th day of the month. OPM data, however,
relate to persons employed on the last workday of the month, plus all
intermittent employees.
County Business Patterns. Employment data collected through the QCEW program
differ from employment data published in the Census Bureau’s County Business
Patterns (CBP) in the following major ways:
- QCEW data are published each
quarter, with a 6-month lag. CBP data are published annually, with approximately
an 18-month lag.
- QCEW data before 2001 were
tabulated on the basis of the 1987 SIC system; data for 2001 through 2006 are
tabulated on the basis of the 2002 NAICS, while data for 2007 forward are
tabulated on the basis of the 2007 NAICS. Data for 1990–2000 are available
through the QCEW NAICS history project. CBP data for 1997, and earlier, are
tabulated on the basis of the SIC system; data for 1998 through 2002 are
tabulated on the basis of the 1997 NAICS; data for 2003, and after, are based
on the 2002 NAICS.
- QCEW data include crop and
animal production; the U.S. Postal Service; pension, health, welfare, and
vacation funds; trusts, estates, and agency accounts; private households; and
public administration. These sources of data are excluded from CBP.
- QCEW data include most
government employees. Most of these workers are excluded from CBP employment.
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QCEW-Related Monthly
Labor Review Abstracts
Established in 1915, the Monthly Labor Review (Review) is
the principal journal of fact, analysis, and research of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. In 2008 and 2009, the Review published several articles at least
partly based on QCEW, Business Employment Dynamics (BED), or Unemployment
Insurance (UI) data. These articles are listed and briefly summarized here.
Changes in State unemployment insurance legislation in
2007
January 2008, Vol. 131, No. 1
Loryn Lancaster
Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist, Division of
Legislation, Office of Workforce Security, Employment and Training
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
State enactments include provisions that relate to
confidentiality and disclosure of unemployment compensation information,
exclude "services" from the definition of employment, change rate
schedules, address fraud and nonfraud benefit overpayments, provide for
noncharging employers´ accounts for benefits paid, and address requirements for
filing and reporting contributions.
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/01/art2full.pdf
Studying the labor market using BLS labor dynamics data
February 2008, Vol. 131, No. 2
Zhi Boon
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Charles M. Carson
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Randy E. Ilg
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
R. Jason Faberman
Formerly of BLS, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia
Three relatively new data sources released by the BLS help
analysts track the rich dynamics underlying the changes in employment and
unemployment; these data add depth and context, and they ultimately provide a
better understanding of movements in the labor market.
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/02/art1full.pdf
The births and deaths of
business establishments in the United States
December 2008, Vol. 131, No. 12
Akbar Sadeghi
Economist, Division of
Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
economists have tested various methods for defining and counting births and
deaths of establishments and businesses; the results of their research will
allow BLS to better measure entrepreneurship in the United States.
www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/12/art1full.pdf
Business employment dynamics:
tabulations by size of employment change
April 2009, Vol. 132, No. 4
Sheryl L. Konigsberg
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
James R. Spletzer
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
David M. Talan
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Business Employment Dynamics data are quarterly series of
gross job gain and loss statistics for the U.S. economy; in autumn 2008, for
the first time BLS published BED data that display gross job gain and loss
statistics grouped by the number of jobs that were gained or lost.
www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/04/art2full.pdf
Business employment dynamics: annual tabulations
May 2009, Vol. 132, No. 5
Akbar Sadeghi
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of
Labor Statistics
James R. Spletzer
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of
Labor Statistics
David M. Talan
Economist, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of
Labor Statistics
The Business Employment Dynamics program releases quarterly
gross job gain and gross job loss statistics, and this year it is releasing
annual statistics for the first time; the annual data show over-the-year growth
and decline of employment at the establishment level.
www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/05/art3full.pdf
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Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2008 chartbook (complete book as
PDF) 11.2MB
Page by page breakout:
- Cover (PDF)
- Preface (PDF)
- Acknowledgments (PDF)
- Contents (PDF)
- FIGURE 1. Private-sector
employment by industry, 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 2. Percent
distribution of private-sector establishments and employment by size class (PDF)
- FIGURE 3. Percent change
in annual average private-sector employment and wages by industry, 2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 4. Percent change
in employment in counties with 75,000 or more employees, March 2008–2009 (PDF)
- FIGURE 5. Percent change
in average weekly wage in counties with 75,000 or more employees, first quarter
2008–2009 (PDF)
- FIGURE 6. Percent change
in annual employment by State, 2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 7. Percent change
in average weekly wage by State, 2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 8. Private-sector
gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted, September
1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 9. Private-sector
gross job gains and gross job losses in construction, seasonally adjusted,
September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 10.
Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in financial activities,
seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 11.
Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in retail trade, seasonally
adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 12. Quarterly
number of births and deaths as a percent of total establishments (PDF)
- FIGURE 13. Counties with
the highest adjusted over-the-year percent growth in average weekly wages in
2008, by quarter (PDF)
- FIGURE 14. Largest
over-the-year changes in private-sector annual average employment by industry,
2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 15.
Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in manufacturing,
seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 16. Employment in
the combined automobile manufacturing industries (NAICS 3361, 3362, and 3363),
June 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 17. Employment in
the automobile dealers industry (NAICS 4411), June 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 18. Employment
location quotient in the automobile dealers industry (NAICS 4411), June 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 19. Average
weekly wage in the combined automobile manufacturing industries (NAICS 3361,
3362, and 3363), second quarter 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 20. North Dakota
private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted,
September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 21. Over-the-year
(OTY) change in private-sector employment in leisure and hospitality, 2005–2008
(PDF)
- FIGURE 22. Change in
annual private-sector employment levels in New York County, New York, by
selected industries, 2004–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 23. Change in
average annual employment levels within selected healthcare industries,
2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 24. California
employment and wages, 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 25. Percent
change in residential building construction in Maryland, by economic
development region, 2007–2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 26. Maine average
weekly wages, third quarter 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 27.
Private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses in education and health
services, seasonally adjusted, September 1992–December 2008 (PDF)
- FIGURE 28. Uses of
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data (PDF)
- Electronic version (PDF)
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Tables
- Total coverage (UI and
UCFE) by ownership: Establishments, employment, and wages, 1999 to 2008 annual
averages. (PDF)
- Private industry by
six-digit NAICS industry and government by level of government, 2008 annual
averages: Establishments, employment, and wages, change from 2007. (PDF)
- Private industry by
supersector and size of establishment: Establishments and employment, first
quarter 2008. (PDF)
- Private industry by
supersector and size of establishment: Establishments and employment, first
quarter 2008, by State. (PDF)
- Total coverage (UI and
UCFE) by State, 2008 annual averages: Establishments, employment, and wages,
change from 2007. (PDF)
- Private industry by State,
2008 annual averages: Establishments, employment, and wages, change from 2007.
(PDF)
- Federal Government by
State and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008
annual averages. (PDF)
- 8. State government by State
and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual
averages. (PDF)
- Local government by State
and selected industries: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual
averages. (PDF)
- Private industry by State and
six-digit NAICS industry: Establishments, employment, and wages, 2008 annual
averages. (PDF) 3.6MB
- Covered establishments,
employment, and wages in the 335 largest counties, first quarter 2009. (PDF)
- Private-sector gross job gains
and losses, seasonally adjusted, September 1992 to December 2008. (PDF)
- Private-sector gross job gains
and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted, December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)
- Private sector gross job gains
and losses by state, seasonally adjusted, December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)
- Private sector gross job gains
and losses as a percent of total employment by State, seasonally adjusted,
December 2007 to December 2008. (PDF)
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Last Modified Date: June 8, 2010