Current labor statistics

Monthly Labor Review, Oct, 2004

Finally, the Monthly Labor Review carries analytical articles on annual and longer term developments in labor force, employment, and unemployment; employee compensation and collective bargaining; prices; productivity; international comparisons; and injury and illness data.

Symbols

n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified.
n.e.s. = not elsewhere specified.
     p = preliminary. To increase the timeliness
         of some series, preliminary
         figures are issued based on representative
         but incomplete returns.
     r = revised. Generally, this revision
         reflects the availability of later
         data, but also may reflect other
         adjustments.

Comparative Indicators

(Tables 1-3)

Comparative indicators tables provide an overview and comparison of major BLS statistical series. Consequently, although many of the included series are available monthly, all measures in these comparative tables are presented quarterly and annually.

Labor market indicators include employment measures from two major surveys and information on rates of change in compensation provided by the Employment Cost Index (ECI) program. The labor force participation rate, the employment-population ratio, and unemployment rates for major demographic groups based on the Current Population ("household") Survey are presented, while measures of employment and average weekly hours by major industry sector are given using nonfarm payroll data. The Employment Cost Index (compensation), by major sector and by bargaining status, is chosen from a variety of BLS compensation and wage measures because it provides a comprehensive measure of employer costs for hiring labor, not just outlays for wages, and it is not affected by employment shifts among occupations and industries.

Data on changes in compensation, prices, and productivity are presented in table 2. Measures of rates of change of compensation and wages from the Employment Cost Index program are provided for all civilian nonfarm workers (excluding Federal and household workers) and for all private nonfarm workers. Measures of changes in consumer prices for all urban consumers; producer prices by stage of processing; overall prices by stage of processing; and overall export and import price indexes are given. Measures of productivity (output per hour of all persons) are provided for major sectors.

Alternative measures of wage and compensation rates of change, which reflect the overall trend in labor costs, are summarized in table 3. Differences in concepts and scope, related to the specific purposes of the series, contribute to the variation in changes among the individual measures.

Notes on the data

Definitions of each series and notes on the data are contained in later sections of these notes describing each set of data.

Employment and Unemployment Data

(Tables 1; 4-29)

Household survey data

Description of the series

Employment data in this section are obtained from the Current Population Survey, a program of personal interviews conducted monthly by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The sample consists of about 60,000 households selected to represent the U.S. population 16 years of age and older. Households are interviewed on a rotating basis, so that three-fourths of the sample is the same for any 2 consecutive months.