Kenneth W. Robertson, Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research

Ken Robertson became the Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research in May 2021. In this position, Mr. Robertson provides methodology support and leadership across BLS in the areas of statistical methods, behavioral science, survey methodology, disclosure limitation, and data science.

Mr. Robertson has an interdisciplinary leadership background, having led staff in three major areas: survey and census program management, software development and operations, and survey design and support. From 2012 to 2021, he was the Assistant Commissioner for Industry Employment Statistics. In this role he directed the activities of the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the Business Employment Dynamics program, and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Mr. Robertson led significant innovations while in this position, including the development of new data products, new estimation and data collection systems, and improvements to processes and methods. Mr. Robertson previously served as the Division Chief for the CES program, where he led the restructuring of the state and area part of the program. Before that he led the Division of Data Development and Publications, developing software and data to support the Current Population Survey (CPS) and providing inputs to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. In this position he modernized the CPS estimation system. At the same time Mr. Robertson led the redesign of the software to account for new industry, occupation, and race coding. While in this position he also led the development of the inaugural estimation system for the American Time Use Survey. Ken served in his first supervisory position from 1998 to 2002, with the Statistical Methods Division in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics. In this role he led the redesign of the Occupational Employment and Wages Survey and developed estimation and sample allocation systems for the survey that were used for well over a decade. Mr. Robertson also worked to support statistical research, improvements, and operations in other employment and unemployment programs.

Mr. Robertson has a Master of Science degree in Statistical Computing from American University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Western New Mexico University.