Occupational Employment and Wages (OES)
Publication Criteria
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' OES program requires that occupational employment and wage estimates meet the following criteria before they can be published:
1. Occupational employment of at least 10 and more than .01 percent of total employment in the appropriate area/NAICS cell.
2. Relative standard error of less than 50 percent to publish employment or a relative standard error of less than 30 to publish wages.
3. At least three firms report data for an occupation, and no one firm reports more than 50 percent of the occupational employment, and no two firms report more than 75 percent of the occupational employment in the appropriate area/NAICS cell.
Employment and wage estimates for occupations that do not meet the above publication criteria are not listed. For cases where the wages meet the above criteria but employment has a relative error of 50 percent or higher, the wages are listed but employment is suppressed. The reverse is true if the employment figures meet the criteria, but the wages do not. For those occupations for which a 40-hour-per-week/52-week-per-year schedule is not typical, the only wages available are annual wages. This includes all Elementary, Secondary, and Post-Secondary Teacher occupations; Music Directors, Singers, Composers, and Related Workers; Musicians, Instrumental; Producers, Directors, Actors, and Other Entertainers; and Athletes, Coaches, Umpires, and Related Workers; Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers; and Commercial Pilots.