Mar 1 -- The Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, invites comments by April 30, 2024 regarding the continued collection, without change, of Current Population Survey (CPS) Basic Demographic Items.
The Census Bureau plans to request clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of basic demographic information on the Current Population Survey (CPS) beginning in September 2024. The current clearance expires August 31, 2024.
The CPS has been the source of official government statistics on employment and unemployment since 1942. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau jointly sponsor the basic monthly survey. The Census Bureau also prepares and conducts all the field work. At the OMB's request, the Census Bureau and the BLS divide the clearance request in order to reflect the joint sponsorship and funding of the CPS program. BLS submits a separate clearance request for the portion of the CPS that collects labor force information for the civilian noninstitutional population. Some of the information within that portion includes employment status, number of hours worked, job search activities, earnings, duration of unemployment, and the industry and occupation classification of the job held the previous week. The justification that follows is in support of the demographic data.
The demographic information collected in the CPS provides a unique set of data on selected characteristics for the civilian noninstitutional population. Some of the demographic information we collect are age, marital status, sex, Armed Forces status, education, race, origin, and family income. We use these data in conjunction with other data, particularly the monthly labor force data, as well as periodic supplement data. We also use these data independently for internal analytic research and for evaluation of other surveys. In addition, we use these data as a control to produce accurate estimates of other personal characteristics.
The CPS basic demographic information is collected from individual households by both personal visit and telephone interviews each month. All interviews are conducted using computer-assisted interviewing. Households in the CPS are in sample for four consecutive months, and for the same four months the following year. This is called a 4–8–4 rotation pattern; households are in sample for four months, in a resting period for eight months, and then in sample again for four months.
Basic Monthly CPS:
https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-basic.html
Draft data collection instrument and technical documentation:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nsmu718zhk7c33ghrj4tb/redrafticrrequestcurrentpopulationsurveycpsbas.zip?rlkey=kufjwhychwnugdctfe2lt7qmo&dl=0
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-04381 and correction
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-05797