This glossary
is divided into nine sections:
1. Terms common to all Labor Force
Programs 2
2. Statistical
terms common to all Labor Force Programs 10
3. Terms used in the QCEW Program 15
4. Terms used in the CES Program 20
5. Terms used in the OES Program 25
6. Terms used in the CPS 29
7. Terms used in the LAUS Program 32
8.
Terms used in the MLS Program 36
9.
Terms used in the JOLTS Program 40
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) - Part of the
Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS) -
Part of the U.S. Department of Labor, this Federal agency functions as the
principal data-gathering agency of the Federal government in the field of labor
economics. The BLS collects, processes,
analyzes, and disseminates data relating to employment, unemployment, the labor
force, productivity, prices, family expenditures, wages, industrial relations,
and occupational safety and health. Well
known data released by BLS include: the Consumer Price Index, the Producer
Price Index, the unemployment rate, and nonagricultural employment levels.
Bureau
of the Census - Part of the
Business cycle - A periodically
repeated sequence of fluctuations in the aggregate economy of an area, or the
nation as a whole, varying in duration, but consisting of: a) upturn, including
recovery and prosperity; b) cyclical peak; c) downturn, including recession;
and d) cyclical trough.
Census Block - A subdivision of a
census tract. A block is the smallest
geographic unit for which the Census Bureau tabulates data.
Census
Tract - Census-designated units are
small parts of MA's and provide statistically comparable population and housing
census tabulations. Tracts are designed
to be relatively similar in population characteristics, economic status, and
living conditions. The average tract has
about 4,000 inhabitants. Census tract
boundaries are recommended by local census tract committees and approved by the
Bureau of the Census.
Combined Statistical
Area - A geographic entity consisting of two or more adjacent Core
Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) with employment interchange measures of at
least 15. Pairs of CBSAs with employment
interchange measures of at least 25 combine automatically. Pairs of CBSAs with employment interchange
measures of at least 15, but less than 25, may combine if local opinion in both
areas favors combination.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) - A Bureau
of Labor Statistics program which measures the average change in the prices of
a fixed set of goods and services purchased by households. It is the most commonly recognized measure of
inflation.
Core - A densely settled concentration of population, comprising
either an urbanized area (of 50,000 or more population) or an urban cluster (of
10,000 to 49,999 population) defined by the Census Bureau, around which a Core
Based Statistical Area is defined.
Core Based Statistical
Area (CBSA)
- A general term that refers to both Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Areas. A CBSA
is a geographic area that contains at least one core (urbanized area or urban
cluster) of at least 10,000 in population, plus adjacent territory that has a
high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured
through commuting ties. Both types of
CBSAs are defined in terms of entire counties.
Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey - A monthly survey of
nonfarm business establishments used to collect wage and salary employment,
worker hours, and payroll, by industry and area. Through the Federal/State cooperative effort,
these data are used to compute current monthly employment, hours, and earnings
estimates, by industry, for the nation, the 50 States and the
Current Population Survey (CPS) - A monthly household survey of the civilian
noninstitutional population of the
Deliverable - As specified by the LMI cooperative agreement, any product required
to be delivered by the States to BLS is generically called a
"deliverable".
Department of Labor (DOL) - Cabinet-level agency which enforces laws protecting
workers, promotes labor-management cooperation, sponsors employment training
and placement services, oversees the unemployment insurance system, and
produces statistics on the labor force and living conditions.
DBES
- Division of Business Establishment Systems.
The division within the Directorate of Survey Processing (DSP) which
includes the staff more commonly known as the QCEW and OES "project"
offices. This office is responsible for
processing data and maintaining systems for the QCEW and OES Programs.
DCES
- Division of Current Employment Statistics.
(Also known the CES “program office”.)
The division within OEUS/Office of Industry Employment Statistics which
is primarily responsible for setting CES program policy and directives, and
producing national CES estimates.
DFSMS
- Division of Federal/State Monthly Surveys.
The division within DSP which includes the staff more commonly known as
the CES, LAUS, and MLS "project" offices. This office is responsible for processing
data and maintaining systems for the CES, LAUS, and MLS Programs.
DSP - Directorate
of Survey Processing - The BLS office which includes the various
"project offices" for the QCEW, CES, OES, LAUS, and MLS
programs. Also responsible for LABSTAT
development and maintenance and for the BLS LAN.
DLAUS
- Division of Local Area Unemployment Statistics. (also known as the LAUS/MLS “program
office”). The Division within OEUS/
Office of Current Employment Analysis primarily responsible for LAUS and MLS
program policy and directives.
DLFS
- Division of Labor Force Statistics.
The division within OEUS/Office of Current Employment Analysis which is
primarily responsible for analyzing and publishing data from the Current
Population Survey.
DASLT
- Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover. (Also known as the QCEW program
office”). This division is responsible
setting QCEW program policy and directives, producing national universe counts
of employment and wages and maintaining the Longitudinal Data Base (LDB). The Division is also the program office for
the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), producing monthly estimates
of job openings, hires, and separations.
DOES
- Division of Occupational Employment Statistics. (Also known as the OES "program
office"). Primarily responsible for
OES survey program policy and directives and producing national OES data.
DOT -
The Department of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
Durable goods - Manufactured items
generally considered to have a normal life expectancy of three years or more.
Automobiles, furniture, household appliances, and mobile homes are common
examples.
Economic indicator - A set of data
that serves as a tool for analyzing current economic conditions and future
prospects. Usually classified according
to their timing in relationship to the ups and downs of the business cycle,
that is, whether they anticipate (lead), coincide with, or lag behind general
business conditions.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - A developing network of standardized
automated data interchange between and among private industry and the
government. One of the many uses of EDI
is the collection of data for statistical surveys.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Collection Center - An Office of Field
Operations run center in Chicago designed for the express purpose of collecting
data from large firms via EDI for Labor Force Programs.
Employer Identification Number (EIN) - A 9-digit identification number assigned
to employers by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
Employment and
Earnings - A monthly publication of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, containing current data for the CPS, CES, and
LAUS programs.
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) - A part of the U.S.
Department of Labor. This agency
oversees the State UI programs and job training and placement services provided
by State Employment Security Agencies.
Establishment - An economic unit that produces goods or services, usually at a
single physical location, and engaged in one or predominantly one activity.
Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) - Standards for information
processing issued by the National Bureau of Standards in the U.S. Department of
Commerce. Includes a numeric designation
for geographic areas such as States, counties, and MA's.
Federal Reserve Board (Fed) - An independent government
agency primarily responsible for keeping inflation under control. The Fed's
best weapon in the fight against inflation is control over certain short term
interest rates. The Fed is a key user of
Labor Force Program data.
Federal/State Cooperative Programs - A series of programs in which the States and
Federal government cooperate in accomplishing the goals of the program. CES, QCEW, OES, LAUS, and MLS are
Federal/State cooperative programs.
Firm
- A business entity, either corporate or otherwise. May consist of one or several establishments.
Fiscal Year (FY) - A 12-month period established for budgetary and accounting
purposes. In the Federal Government, the
fiscal year begins October 1 and ends September 30.
FUTA
- Federal Unemployment Tax Act. This Act
became Chapter 23, Sections 3301-3311, of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code,
authorizing the tax imposed on employers with respect to persons they employ
for the purpose of funding unemployment insurance benefits. The FUTA made
possible the federal/state system which established an employment security
program in each state.
GDP
- Gross Domestic Product. The total of
all goods and services produced by the
Goods
producing industries - Those industries that primarily produce goods. Mining, construction, and manufacturing.
Household - As defined by the Census Bureau, all persons who occupy a housing
unit. A housing unit is a room or group
of rooms intended for occupancy as separate living quarters and having either a
separate entrance or complete cooking facilities for the exclusive use of the
occupants.
Industry - Describes the type of economic activity engaged in by a group of
firms as used in the compilation of economic statistics. The North American Industrial Classification
System (NAICS) provides numerical classifications for industries.
Job Openings and Labor
Turnover Survey (JOLTS) - A monthly survey of nonfarm
establishments in both the private and public sectors, producing estimates of
job openings, hires, and total separations (quits, layoffs, and discharges, and
other separations). DASLT is the program
office, DBES is the project office, and SMS is the statistical office for this
program.
Labor
dispute - Any controversy concerning
terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or
representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or
seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether or
not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
Labor Market Area (LMA) - An economically
integrated geographical unit within which workers may readily change jobs
without changing their place of residence.
All States are divided into exhaustive LMA’s, which usually consist of
(except in
LABSTAT - BLS's automated repository of data, available through the
INTERNET. LABSTAT is a database that
contains most published BLS data. At
this time, not all published BLS data are available on LABSTAT.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program - A Federal/State
cooperative program which produces employment, labor force, and unemployment
estimates for States and local areas.
LMI -1. Labor Market Information. The body of data available on a particular
labor market, including employment and unemployment statistics, occupational
statistics, and average hours and earnings data.
2. LMI is also used to refer to the statistical
research and analysis offices of the State Employment Security Agencies. These offices are also referred to as
Research and Analysis (R & A) or Research and Statistics (R & S)
offices.
LMI
Cooperative Agreement - A series of cooperative agreements between the State
Employment Security Agencies and BLS for the collection and sharing of Labor
Market Information, including the QCEW, CES, OES, LAUS, and MLS programs.
Macrodata - Single establishment or household (micro) data aggregated to any
level. Data at the estimating cell level
and summary cell levels are all macrodata.
Compare to microdata.
Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program - A BLS Federal/State cooperative program
which collects and publishes data on layoffs of 50 or more persons from a
single company.
Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA)
- The general concept of a Metropolitan Statistical Area or a Micropolitan
Statistical Area is that of an area containing a recognized population nucleus
and adjacent communities that have a high degree of integration with that
nucleus. The definitions provide nationally consistent definitions for
collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics for a set of
geographic areas. OMB establishes and
maintains the definitions of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas,
Combined Statistical Areas, and
A Metropolitan Statistical
Area has at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus
adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration
with the core as measured by commuting ties.
Metropolitan Statistical Areas are defined in terms of whole counties
(or equivalent entities) in all States including the six New England States.
Micropolitan
Statistical Area - A Micropolitan
Statistical Area is a new type
of statistical areas which has at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000
but less than 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree
of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting
ties. Micropolitan Statistical Areas are
defined in terms of whole counties (or equivalent entities), in all States
including the six New England States.
Microdata - Data reported from an individual establishment or household. Data on a single BLS-790 form or a single UI
contribution report are microdata.
Compare to macrodata.
Multi establishment - A firm or reporting unit which consists of more than one
establishment.
National Office (NO) – Generic term used to refer to the offices and
employees of BLS in
Nondurable goods - Manufactured items
generally considered to last for three years or less. Food, beverages, clothing, shoes, and
gasoline are common examples.
Nonresponse - Failure to obtain usable data for eligible units.
Numbered Memoranda - A series of technical memoranda issued for the
purpose of disseminating information to Regional offices (R-memos) and States
(S-memos) on new developments in the Fed/State programs, changes in operating
procedures, and updates to manuals.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - The system of classifying
business establishments used by the
Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Program. A Federal/State cooperative program which
collects detailed occupational data by industry in a 3-year cycle.
Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics (OEUS) - The BLS office which
includes the various "program offices" of the Labor Force Programs:
OEUS program office divisions are: DCES
(CES), DASLT (QCEW), DOES (OES), DLFS (CPS), and DLAUS (LAUS and MLS). OEUS also includes other divisions: Statistical Methods Staff (SMS), Employment
Research Staff.
Office of Field Operations (OFO) - The BLS office which directs the work of its
regional offices and acts as a liaison between the national office and the
regions. Regional offices are also
considered part of the Office of Field Operations.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - Located in the Executive Office of the
President, this agency prepares the President's budget with the Council of
Economic Advisors and the Treasury Department.
OMB also oversees all Federal data collection. Among other duties, this federal agency is
responsible for enforcing the Paperwork Reduction Act and, in so doing, must
approve all surveys and data collection forms which represent a reporting burden
on employers.
Out-of-business (OOB) - Status assigned to a unit which was once active but
which has permanently ceased to conduct business or perform services and
industrial operations.
Out-of-scope (OOS) - Status assigned to a unit which does not form part of the target
population as defined by the scope of a survey.
The reported NAICS code, ownership code, or employment of a unit may
cause it to fall outside the scope of a survey.
Ownership code - A numerical code which specifies the several layers of government and
the private sector of the economy.
10 Federal
government
20 State
government
30 Local
government
40 International
or foreign government
50 Private
Parent organization or company - A company which owns or operates one or more
subsidiary companies or establishments.
Project offices - Generic term for the Divisions within
the Directorate of Survey Processing (DSP) responsible for computer processing
and User Manual documentation of the various Labor Force Program surveys. See DBES and DFSMS.
Program offices - Generic term for the Divisions within
Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics (OEUS) responsible for the
overall management and direction of the various Labor Force Programs. See DCES, DLAUS, DASLT, and DLFS.
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program - A Federal/State
cooperative program which collects and compiles employment and wage data for
workers covered by State unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and Federal civilian
workers covered by UCFE. State
Employment Security Agencies collect and compile quarterly UI contribution
reports which are submitted by all employers.
These data are maintained in the State in micro and macrodata forms, and
are also shipped to BLS. Any data from
this program may also be generically referred to as "ES-202" data.
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) - An independent agency in
the executive branch of the U.S. government which administers a comprehensive
social insurance system for the nation's railroad workers and their families,
providing protection against the loss of income resulting from old age,
disability, death, unemployment, and temporary sickness.
Reference date - The reference date of a sample frame is the date when the
characteristics of the population existed on the frame. The reference date of the survey, however, is
the date for which the respondents are requested to submit the data.
Regional Office (RO) - Term used to refer to the offices and employees
of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the six regional office locations outside
of
Schedule - A term sometimes used to refer to a survey questionnaire.
Series
break - A large change in the level
of a time series resulting from: A major change in methodology; A major change
in industry definition; A major industry or area coding error; The permanent
loss of a major reporter; Area
redefinition. If a series has been
broken, data prior to the break are not comparable to data after the break.
Service providing industries - Those
industries that primarily provide services as opposed to goods.
State and Workforce Agency (SWA) - Generic name for the State agency usually
responsible for three activities:
1) The Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program -- UI tax collection, administration, and
determination and payment of unemployment benefits.
2) The Employment or Job Service Program -- an exchange for
workers seeking work and employers seeking workers.
3) Research and Analysis -- collection, analysis, and publication
of labor market information.
StateWeb - An Intranet site with extensive program documentation and other
resources for the Labor Force programs.
It is available only to State users with BLS accounts.
Statistical Methods Staff (SMS) - A division within OEUS which researches and sets
statistical standards for Federal/State surveys.
This section defines statistical terms common to all Labor Force programs.
Benchmark - A point of reference (either an estimate or a count) from which
measurements can be made or upon which adjustments to estimates are based. See individual program glossaries for
specific program references to benchmarks.
Bias
- The difference between the expected value of the estimate from a probability
sample and the true value of the population.
Births - 1) Those units which are
within scope of a survey as of the reference date of the survey but were not in
the sampling frame. They include units
which existed in the universe but were not on the sampling frame as well as
units which came into existence after the creation of the sampling frame. 2) Within the QCEW program Longitudinal Data
Base system, a business Birth is defined as a unit appearing for the first time
with non-zero employment for which no predecessor unit in the previous time
period is identified.
Census
- A complete count (as opposed to a sample) of a specified population or some
other measurable characteristic in a given area (housing, industry, etc.).
Certainty unit - A universe unit whose probability of selection is one; therefore, it
is sure to be included in the sample.
Confidence interval
- A measure of the range of probable parameters attributable to the sample
design (estimate plus or minus the standard error). The BLS standard is generally the 90 percent
level of confidence.
Correlation - The statistical technique which relates a
pair of variables in order to determine how close the relationship is between
the variables.
Deaths - 1) Units which were in a
sampling frame but are not now within the scope of the survey. They include units which have gone out of
business, have changed to an out-of-scope NAICS, or were erroneously included
on the sampling frame. 2) Within the
QCEW program Longitudinal Data Base system, a business Death is defined as a
unit that over some period of time ceases reporting with no successor
identified or decreases employment from greater than zero to zero and does not
resume operations (i.e. report positive
employment) during the subsequent four
quarters.
Disaggregate - Divide a statistic into
its component parts.
Estimate - A numerical quantity calculated from sample data, or from a model,
and intended to provide information about a universe.
Estimating cell
- The most basic or lowest level (or strata) for which estimates are made. All higher level strata are aggregations of
estimating cells. For establishment
surveys, the estimating cell structure is generally stratified by NAICS, area,
and size of establishment. For household
surveys, the estimating cell structure is generally stratified by demographic
characteristic
Extrapolate - To project values of a variable in an
unobserved interval from values within an already observed interval.
Interpolate - To estimate values of a variable between
two known values.
Mean -
A number typifying or representing a set of observations, obtained by dividing
the sum of the observations by the number of observations. The mean can be weighted or unweighted.
Mean Square Error (MSE) - A measure of the total
error that can arise in an estimate. It
is equal to the variance plus the bias squared.
Mean square error is a more comprehensive measure of estimation error
than is variance and, hence, is an important statistical analytical tool.
Months for Cyclical Dominance (MCD) - An estimate of the time
span required to identify significant cyclical movements in a monthly economic
time series. The MCD indicates the
shortest span of months over which changes in the series are dominated by cyclical
rather than irregular or erratic movements.
Moving average - A series of calculations
made by initially taking the simple average, or arithmetic mean, of a
consecutive number of items, and then dropping the first item and adding the
next item in sequence and averaging, so that the number of items in the series
remains constant. This is a continuous
process.
Non-sampling error - Any error in the estimate other than the sampling
error. Non-sampling error can arise from
the use of an inaccurate sampling frame, improper sample allocation and
selection procedures, poorly designed survey questionnaires, inaccurate data
clarification/verification techniques, inaccurate reporting or coding from
survey respondents, errors in estimation methodology, incorrect specifications,
human error in execution and validation, computer program errors, etc. It is important to note that non-sampling
errors also occur in censuses.
Optimum allocation - An allocation procedure for stratified sampling
which, for a given target relative error, will generate the minimum necessary
sample size.
Probability of selection - (Also referred to as sampling rate and sampling
ratio) The numerical value expressing the likelihood that a particular unit
will be selected in a sample. All units
(within scope) on the sampling frame should have a probability greater than 0,
but less than or equal to 1 (0 < p <= 1) of being in the sample.
Probability sampling - (Also referred to as "Random
Sampling") A sampling procedure
which gives each of the possible samples a fixed and determinate probability of
selection or which gives each unit on a sampling frame a fixed and known chance
of being included in the sample.
Probability samples permit the calculation, from the sample data, of
measures of reliability for the estimates.
Regression - A statistical tool which utilizes the
relation between two or more variables so that one variable can be predicted or
estimated from the other(s).
Relative error - The difference between the estimate and the actual population value
expressed as a percentage of the latter.
Relative error, target - A value assigned to the relative error which
specifies the degree of precision desired in an estimator.
Relative standard error - The ratio of the standard error of an estimator to
the estimator's expected value. An
estimate of it is the estimated standard error divided by the estimate. (Also coefficient of variation, or CV).
Reliability - The degree of confidence that can be assigned to an estimate.
Sample
- A subset of a universe. Usually
selected as representative of the universe.
Sample allocation - The process of assigning a sample size or sampling rate to each
stratum in a stratified sampling plan.
Sample
frame - (also known as
"frame"). A listing of all units
in the universe, from which a sample can be drawn.
Sample
plan - (also called sample design).
The procedures that are used for sample allocation, selection, and
estimation. It is often the object of a
sample plan to provide the best possible representation of the universe for a
fixed cost.
Sample refinement - The process by which newly selected sample units are investigated
prior to solicitation. "Sample
refinement" can involve identification of establishments within a
reporting unit, correction of addresses, determination of industrial
classification to a finer level of detail, etc.
Sample survey - A survey in which only a sample or part of the population is studied.
Sample weight - A numerical value, assigned to a sample unit for use in estimation. It is equal to the sampling rate reciprocal.
Sampling error - The measure of sampling variability, that is, the variations that
might occur by chance because only a sample of the population is surveyed. In other words, that part of the error of an
estimate which is due to the fact that the estimate is obtained from a sample
rather than from a census of the universe.
Sampling ratios - The proportion of units
needed to be sampled to provide data of a specified level of statistical
reliability. Sampling ratios vary by
cell, depending on the degree of variability of the measured item.
Seasonal adjustment - Adjustment of
time-series data to eliminate the effect of seasonal variations. Examples of such variations include school
terms, holidays, yearly weather patterns, etc.
Standard deviation - A measure of dispersion
around the mean value of a population.
Frequently denoted by sigma, (s) is the square root of the variance.
Strata - The parts into which a sample frame are partitioned according to predetermined
criteria for the purpose of sampling and estimation. In Federal/State programs, these strata are
usually based on NAICS, geographic area, and size. The process of partitioning the sample frame
is called "stratification".
Survey
- A study of all or a portion of the whole, conducted for the purpose of making
generalized statements about the whole.
Survey design - All procedures used in a survey.
Includes frame development, sample design, form design, tabulation
plans, etc...
Time series - A variable in which the values are successive observations over time. A key characteristic of a time series is that any 2 points in a time series can be compared. Data produced by the CES, OES, CPS, LAUS, MLS and JOLTS programs are economic time series.