Feb 6 -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed revision of the “Report on Current Employment Statistics.” Written comments must be submitted on or before April 8, 2024.
The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program provides current monthly statistics on employment, hours, and earnings, by industry and geography. CES estimates are among the most visible and widely-used Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs). CES data are also among the timeliest of the PFEIs, with their release each month by the BLS in the Employment Situation, typically on the first Friday of each month. The statistics are fundamental inputs in economic decision processes at all levels of government, private enterprise, and organized labor.
The CES monthly estimates of employment, hours, and earnings are based on a sample of U.S. nonagricultural establishments. Information is derived from approximately 349,000 reports (from a sample of 122,000 employers with State Unemployment Insurance (UI) accounts comprised of 666,000 individual worksites). Each month, firms report their employment, payroll, and hours on forms identified as the BLS–790. The sample is collected under a probability-based design. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands collect an additional 8,800 reports.
The CES program is a voluntary program under Federal statute. Reporting to the State agencies is voluntary in all but four States (California, New Mexico, Oregon, and South Carolina), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. To our knowledge, the States that do have mandatory reporting rarely exercise their authority. The collection form's confidentiality statement cites the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act and mentions the State mandatory reporting authority.
Automated data collection methods are now used for most of the CES sample. Approximately 124,000 reports are received through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Web data collection accounts for 26,000 reports. Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) is used to collect 66,000. The balance of the sample is collected through other methods including submission of transcripts, emails, fax, and other special arrangements.
CES:
https://www.bls.gov/ces/
Draft data collection instrument and technical documentation:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5unv4dr7219k9l46i1sxf/redrafticrrequestreportoncurrentemploymentstatis.zip?rlkey=3cfhti48utmgb42enw9wnfufy&dl=0
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-02269