Comparing sources of data on employment
| For explanations of terms see Glossary of Terms | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Data: | Current Employment Statistics (CES) | Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) | Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) | Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) | Census 2000 |
| Description | Employment, average production worker wages, and weekly hours by industry and MSA (place of employment) | Employed and unemployed persons by geographic area (place of residence) | Employment, employers, and total wages, quarterly and annual average, by industry and geographic area (place of employment) | Occupational employment by geographic area (place of employment) and occupational wage distributions | Demographic data on population, income, and employment and commuting by geographic area (place of residence) |
| Methodology | Survey of a sample of employers conducted monthly | Estimation based on modeling of demographics, CES employment, and UI Program activity | Census of all employers and jobs covered by Unemployment Insurance (97% of total non-agricultural employment) | Survey of a sample of employers conducted over a three-year cycle | Census of all people living in the U.S., conducted every 10 years |
| Populations Excluded | Self-employed, agriculture, domestic workers, military | Individuals not in the labor force | Self-employed, railroad workers, student workers, elected officials, religious organizations, family farms | Self-employed, some agricultural workers, domestic workers, military | Institutionalized population excluded from some measures |
| Currency | Monthly data available by the third week of the following month | Monthly data available by the third week of the following month | Quarterly data available six months after the end of the quarter | Biannual data available four months after the end of data collection | Every ten years with data available two to four years later |
| Geographic Detail | U.S., states, MSA's | U.S., states, regions, counties, MSA's, cities over 25,000 | U.S., states, regions, counties, communities | U.S., states, regions | U.S., states, counties, cities, census tracts, and block groups |
| Advantages | Current industry employment data, time series analysis | Current labor force estimates | Complete universe of employers, fine level of geographic and industry detail | Occupational employment, wage distribution, and staffing information | Complete universe of individuals, and fine level of geographic detail |
| Limitations | Not available for small, local areas, revised and benchmarked | Frequent revisions as better data becomes available | Six month time lag and some data confidentiality | Not a time series, limitations on reporting to small regions | Updated only every 10 years |
| Other Products | Minnesota Employment Review; Minnesota Economic Trends |
Unemployment Rate News Release; Minnesota Employment Review; |
Quarterly Census Employment and Wages | Salary Survey; Occupational Projections | Minnesota State Demographer's Office |
| Links | Current Employment Statistics (CES) | Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) | Quarterly Census Employment and Wages (QCEW) | Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) | US Census Factfinder |