Online Industry Market Research Presented by Janet Harrah, Director Center for Economic Development & Business Research, Wichita State University

Part 3. Employment Data

Definitions Labor Force –The labor force includes the employed and unemployed. –If you don’t have a job and you are not actively looking for a job then you are not part of the labor force.

Definitions Employed –People are considered employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit, including part-time or temporary work as well as regular full-time work. Persons who have jobs but who are not at work are also considered employed, including people who were on vacation, ill, involved in an industrial dispute, prevented from working by bad weather, or taking time off for personal reasons.

Definitions Unemployed –Counts of unemployment include persons 16 years of age and older who do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks, and currently available for work. –Also considered unemployed are persons who are waiting to start a new job with 30 days and persons who are on layoff, even if they are not looking for work.

Definitions Labor Force Participation Rate –The percentage of the population aged 16 years and over in the labor force (both employed and unemployed) Population 16 and over= LFPR Labor force

Definitions Unemployment rate –The unemployment rate is unemployment expressed as a percent of the labor force.

How Many Jobs? The Wichita MSA had 280,200 jobs, down 1,000 nonfarm jobs between August 2004 and August Employment stood at 284,500 and the number unemployed was 18,000. –Excerpts from a September 16 press release issued by the Kansas Department of Human Resources, Labor Market Information Services

Employment Data Sets 1.Civilian Labor Force employment 2.Wage and salary employment 3.Covered employment 4.BEA employment

Most Frequently Used Employment Data Sets 1.Civilian Labor Force (CLF) and Non Farm Wage and Salary Employment (W&S) 2.Statistics on nonagricultural employment, hours of work, and earnings are compiled from two major sources: household interviews and reports/surveys of employers.

Differences Among Data Sets 1.How jobs are counted 2.Where jobs are counted 3.Industries and occupations covered 4.How data are collected 5.Geographic coverage 6.Timeliness of data release

Civilian Labor Force How are jobs counted? –The CLF is a count of people not a count of jobs. –If you are employed you are counted only once even if you have more than 1 job.

Non-farm Wage & Salary Employment How are jobs counted? –W&S employment is a count of full- and part- time jobs –Every job is counted equally –If a person had two jobs, each job would be counted in W&S employment.

Civilian Labor Force Where are jobs counted? –The jobs are counted where the person lives. –For example, if you live in Hutchinson and work in Wichita, you would be counted in the Reno County CLF data.

Wage & Salary Employment Where are jobs counted? –The jobs are counted where the jobs are located. –For example, if you live in Hutchinson and work in Wichita, your job would be counted in the Wichita W&S employment data.

Civilian Labor Force What industries and types of jobs are covered? –The CLF comprises wage and salary workers (including domestics and other private household workers), self-employed persons, and unpaid workers who worked 15 hours or more during the reference week in family-operated enterprises. Employment in both agricultural and nonagricultural industries is included. It does not include Military personnel.

Wage & Salary Employment What industries and types of jobs are covered? –Temporary and intermittent employees are included, as are any workers who are on paid sick leave, on paid holiday, or who work during only part of the specified pay period. Data exclude proprietors, self- employed, unpaid family or volunteer workers, farm workers, and domestic workers. Persons on layoff the entire pay period, on leave without pay, on strike for the entire period or who have not yet reported for work are not counted as employed. Government employment covers only civilian workers.

Civilian Labor Force How are the data collected? –Derived from the Current Population Survey. The CPS is a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households (nationally) conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. –About 1,000 households in Kansas are surveyed each month.

Wage and Salary Employment How are the data collected? –A monthly survey of about 300,000 nonfarm establishments which employ nearly 40 percent of the total nonfarm population. All establishments with 1,000 employees or more are asked to participate in the survey along with a representative sample of smaller establishments. –Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws.

Civilian Labor Force What geographic coverage is available? –These data are collected and published for the United States, states, metropolitan statistical areas, counties and some selected large cities.

Wage and Salary Employment What geographic coverage is available? –These data are collected and published for the United States, states, and metropolitan areas.

Civilian Labor Force Timeliness of the data? –These data are published monthly. –Typically there is a 3 or 4 week lag. For example, the data for August 2005 employment were released on September 16.

Wage and Salary Employment Timeliness of the data? –These data are published monthly. –Typically there is a 3 or 4 week lag. For example, the data for August 2005 employment were released on September 16.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Also referred to as ES-202 and Covered Employment –This is a virtual census of employment in the United States, covering 99.7% of wage and salary civilian employment. This name (QCEW) was adopted in –These reports provide information on the number of people employed and the wages paid to the employees each quarter.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Derives its data from quarterly tax reports submitted to State Employment Security Agencies by over eight million employers subject to State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and from Federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Establishment level information is aggregated, by industry code, to the county level, and to higher aggregate levels.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Major drawback is the lag in reporting –Quarterly data is usually released six to seven months after the end of the quarter. –Quarterly and annual data for all series are released approximately nine months after the end of the year. –Fourth quarter 2004 most current data available –Only quarterly and annual data published

BEA Employment Data Employment only at broad industry levels Publishes accompanying earnings and compensation data State, county and MSA data published 18 month lag in reporting Annual data only Most comprehensive coverage of type and industry of the employment data sets published.

Employment Information on an Individual Company Government agencies do NOT published information about individual companies. This information must be purchased or obtained from the company.

Employment Information on an Individual Company Caveats to using purchased data –Most start from yellow pages listing and are supplemented with some survey information –Double counting –Double listings –Industry miss classifications

How To Use? Industry/company size Trend analysis Relative share analysis Wage rate – industry skills Wage growth – labor supply/demand

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