Current labor statistics

Monthly Labor Review, Oct, 2003

Also in June 2003, the CES program introduced concurrent seasonal adjustment for the national establishment data. Under this methodology, the fast preliminary estimates for the current reference month and the revised estimates for the 2 prior months will be updated with concurrent factors with each new release of data. Concurrent seasonal adjustment incorporates all available data, including first preliminary estimates for the most current month, in the adjustment process. For additional information on all of the changes introduced in June 2003, see the the June 2003 issue of Employment and Earnings and "Recent changes in the national Current Employment Statistics survey," Monthly Labor Review, June 2003, pp. 3-13.

Revisions in State data (table 11) occurred with the publication of January 2003 data. For information on the revisions for the State data, see the March and May 2003 issues of Employment and Earnings, and "Recent changes in the State and Metropolitan Area CES survey," Monthly Labor Review, June 2003, pp. 14-19.

Beginning in June 1996, the BLS uses the X-12-ARIMA methodology to seasonally adjust establishment survey data. This procedure, developed by the Bureau of the Census, controls for the effect of varying survey intervals (also known as the 4- versus 5-week effect), thereby providing improved measurement of over-the-month changes and underlying economic trends. Revisions of data, usually for the most recent 5-year period, are made once a year coincident with the benchmark revisions.

In the establishment survey, estimates for the most recent 2 months are based on incomplete returns and are published as preliminary in the tables (12-17 in the Review). When all returns have been received, the estimates are revised and published as "final" (prior to any benchmark revisions) in the third month of their appearance. Thus, December data are published as preliminary in January and February and as final in March. For the same reasons, quarterly establishment darn (table 1) are preliminary for the fast 2 months of publication and final in the third month. Thus, fourth-quarter data are published as preliminary in January and February and as final in March.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on establishment survey data contact the Division of Current Employment Statistics: (202) 691-6555.

Unemployment data by State

Description of the series

Data presented in this section are obtained from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, which is conducted in cooperation with State employment security agencies.

Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, and unemployment for States and sub-State areas are a key indicator of local economic conditions, and form the basis for determining the eligibility of an area for benefits under Federal economic assistance programs such as the Job Training Partnership Act. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates are presented in table 10. Insofar as possible, the concepts and definitions underlying these data are those used in the national estimates obtained from the CPS.