Economic News Release

Employment and Unemployment Among Youth Technical Note

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Technical Note


   The estimates in this release were obtained from the Current Population
Survey (CPS), a national sample survey of 60,000 households conducted month-
ly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The 
data in this release relate to the employment status of youth (16- to 24-year-
olds) during the months of April-July.  This period was selected as being the 
most representative time frame in which to measure the full summertime tran-
sition from school to work.  July is the peak summer month of youth employment.   

   Beginning in January 2007, data reflect revised population controls
used in the CPS.  For a discussion of the introduction of the revised
population controls and the impact that their introduction had on the CPS
data, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January
2007" in the February 2007 issue of Employment and Earnings, available at
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps07adj.pdf on the BLS Web site.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral
phone: 1-800-877-8339.
   
Reliability
   
   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling
error.  When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there 
is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population 
values they represent.  The exact difference, or sampling error, varies de-
pending upon the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured 
by the standard error of the estimate.  There is about a 90-percent chance, 
or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no 
more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of 
sampling error.  BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level 
of confidence.
   
   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error.  Nonsampling error
can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of
the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the
sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct infor-
mation, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
   
   For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and infor-
mation on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and Esti-
mates of Error" section of Employment and Earnings.
   
Definitions
   
   The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly
below.
   
   Employed persons are (a) all those who, during the survey reference
week, did any work at all as paid employees, worked in their own business,
profession, or on their own farm, or who worked 15 hours or more as unpaid
workers in a family-operated enterprise; and (b) all those who did not work
but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to
illness, bad weather, vacation, child-care problems, labor disputes or per-
sonal reasons, whether or not they were paid by their employers for the
time off and whether or not they were seeking other jobs.
   
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   Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the ref-
erence week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and
had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4 weeks
preceding the survey.  Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job
from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to 
be classified as unemployed.
   
   Civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as employed or
unemployed.
   
   Unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed persons as a
percent of the civilian labor force.
   
   Not in the labor force includes all persons who are not classified as
employed or unemployed.
   
   Industry and class of worker for the employed relate to the job held in
the survey reference week.  Persons with two or more jobs are classified in
the job at which they worked the greatest number of hours.  In terms of
class-of-worker categories, wage and salary workers are those who receive
wages, salaries, commissions, tips, or pay-in-kind from a private employer
or from a government unit; self-employed persons are those who work for
profit or fees in their own business, profession, or trade, or operate a
farm; and unpaid family workers are persons working without pay for 15
hours a week or more in an enterprise operated by a member of their family.
 
 
 
 

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