Improvements in the BLS

Business Register

Richard ClaytonDavid Talan

12th Meeting of the Group of Experts on Business Registers

Paris, FranceSeptember 14-15, 2011

Outline

Concepts and SourcesReducing Respondent BurdenData SharingNew Statistical Products

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

Quarterly census of employers covered under UI and federal employers covered under UCFE

98% of U.S. Employment

QCEW – Quarterly Census of Employment and

Wages

Quarterly data (frequent) Released 6 months after reference

period - timely 9.1 million records and growing 130 million in employment Units, employment and wages 6 digit NAICS and county, ownership

20 million data series available on the BLS website

UI based, mandatory collections to run UI Wages - 98% reported data Employment - 97% reported data Units - 95% reported data

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Investment in Quality

Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Administrative data from Unemployment

Insurance filings (UI) Huge investment in improving raw

administrative data Two supplemental collections

– ARS- Annual Refiling Survey– MWR- Multiple Worksite Report

Independent Validation Checks

Current Employment Statistics Survey Monthly Survey of Employment and

Earners 400,000 establishments Detailed industry and geographic

estimates Individual Wage Records

National State 6

Highly Accurate Data Thorough editing and review at the

state, regional, and national levels each quarter

196 Interactive Edits QCEW staff contact businesses to

validate or correct questionable data and/or provide missing data (probably unique in this respect)

Development of new processing system with even more powerful editing and review capabilities

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QCEW Concepts

Employer

Establishment

Reporting unit

Multi-establishment employer

QCEW

Business Register Sources

UI Status Determination Form UI Quarterly Contribution Report

BLS Multiple Worksite Report BLS Federal Government Report BLS Annual Refiling Survey Forms

Status Determination Form

Data obtained:

UI account number

business name business

address employer

identification number

ownership status

industry status multi-

establishment employer status

predecessor information

Quarterly UI Contribution Report

Data obtained:

monthly employment total wages taxable wages employer contributions

Multiple Worksite Report

Data obtained:

establishment address worksite description monthly employment by

establishment total wages by establishment

Federal Government Report

Federal employment and wages All Federal worksites report

electronically

Annual Refiling Forms

Verify and update:

industry codes geographic codes ownership status business names and addresses multi-establishment status

BLS Business Register

Updated each quarter

Over 9 million records

Longitudinal database

Linked to create a time series for each establishment

BLS Business Register

Reducing Response Rates

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Center

Touchtone Data Collection

Web Collection

EDI Center

Established in 1995 Purpose: Collect data

electronically from large firms in multiple states

The EDI Center collects 24% of the nation’s establishments representing 20% of employment

The EDI Center has improved response rates and productivity while reducing costs and respondent burden

Touchtone Data Collection

Established in 2002 Purpose: Collect data from

respondents to the Annual Refile Survey

Touchtone Data Entry (TDE) accounts for about 29% of ARS respondents

TDE has improved response rates and productivity while reducing costs and respondent burden

MWR Internet Web Collection

Established in 2007 Purpose: Collect data from

respondents to the MWR MWR Web accounts for about

13% of total employment and 10% of establishments

MWR Web has improved response rates and productivity while reducing costs and respondent burden

Data Sharing

Bureau of Economic Analysis Census Bureau National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Future Data Sharing Plans

Bureau of Economic Analysis

Receives Employment and Wage Data every quarter

Used to prepare the Personal Income component of the National Income and Products Accounts at the national, state and county level

QCEW wages represent 94% of the wage and salary component of Personal Income and 42.5% of GDP

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Census Bureau

Receives industry codes every quarter.

Used in the Census Business Register to help classify new establishments.

In FY2011, BLS supplied Census with 3.3 million matched firm records

This data sharing project reduces respondent burden, improves industry codes for Census, and helps to create consistent statistical products

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NOAA

Used to develop ocean economy economic indicators of employment and wages at the national, state and county level

This data sharing project is helping NOAA develop new social science tools and methods used to address the nation’s coastal issues

http://csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/snapshots/index.html

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Future Data Sharing Plans

More Data Sharing with Census: Sharing Multi-units data Sharing Professional Employer

Organization (PEO) data Department of Agriculture

Economic Research Service

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Continuous Progress and Improvements

1991 –1992 : Multiple Worksite Reports - county Level

2001 : Longitudinal Database completed1998 – 2001 : NAICS Implemented2002 : Quarterly Publication Initiated2003 : Business Employment Dynamics

(BED): Geocoding started

2004 : NAICS History Released (Sept 2004)

4 Week Acceleration Completed 2005 : BED Firm Size Data2007 : NAICS 2007 Conversion (2007/Q1)2010 : QCEW Mapping Tool BED Expansion

UI Tax Rate & Actuarial Analysis

UI-Covered Employment

Local Area Unemployment

Personal Income (BEA)

Gross Domestic Product (BEA)

Economic Forecasting

Current Employment Statistics

Occupational Employment Statistics

Job Creation/Destruction• Size Class Dynamics• Business Survival Rates

Geocoded Establishments

Occupational Employment Statistics

Occupational Safety and Health Statistics

Current Employment Statistics

National Compensation Survey

Industrial Price Program

Occupational Safety and Health Statistics

Programmatic Uses

Benchmarking(Employment Base)

General Economic Uses

Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages Data (QCEW/

Analytical UsesSampling

Mass Layoff Statistics

State Revenue Projections

Jobs Openings & Labor Turnover Survey

Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey

Quarterly Press Releases, Annual Employment and Wages

Local Economic Development Indicators

• Clusters Analysis• Shift Share• Industry Diversity Indexes• Location Quotients

Federal Funds Allocation$175 Billion(HUD, USDA, HCFA/CHIP)

Minimum Wage Studies

Uses Of Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Data (QCEW)

Local Economic Impact Response Planning

Local Government Services Planning

Interagency Data Uses• Improve CPS After 2000 Census• LEHD• Industry Code Sharing

Local Transportation Planning

Employment and Wage Data

number of establishments, monthly employment, and quarterly wages

Available by: geographical area industry code size

WAGES

QCEW Publications

Annual Bulletin via the Web Employment and Wages Released in Fall After Year’s End

Quarterly Press Releases County Employment and Wages Business Employment Dynamics

Timeliness

January 1 – March 31 = Reference Quarter

March 31 – April 30 = Reporting Period

May 1 – July 29 = UI Processing QCEW Extract from UI QCEW Edit & Review

July 30 – Sept 28 = State File sent to BLS BLS Review State Updates Received

September 29, 2011 = Publication

Lag = 6 months

QCEW Mapping Tool

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QCEW Mapping Tool

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Uses of Geocoded Data

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Business Employment Dynamics (BED)

Linked longitudinally QCEW data to create a time series

– Unit of analysis is the Establishment Scope

– Private sector, excludes private households• 6.8 million establishments• 107 million employment

Reveals the dynamics of the labor market. Shows gross flows as well as net

employment changes

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UsesBusiness Demography data: Provides policy-relevant series at

all levels of government Assesses the employment

dynamics of the business cycle Provides new indicators on the

health of the labor market

BED Data Series Available

National Total Private National NAICS Sector National Firm Size State Total Private Size of Employment

Change (National) Annual (National/State) Birth Death

(National/State) Age/Survival (National)

September 2003 May 2004 December 2005 August 2007 September 2008

May 19, 2009 May 19, 2009 August, 18 2010

Gross job gains

Gross job losses

Expansions

Contractions

Openings

Closings

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Survival Rates Across Cohorts

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Accessing the QCEW and BED Macrodata

BED: http://www.bls.gov/bdm/home.htm

QCEW: http://www.bls.gov/cew/home.htm

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Contact Information

Richard ClaytonDavid Talan

Email: clayton.richard@bls.gov Email: talan.david@bls.gov

www.bls.gov/bdm