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Current Employment Statistics - CES (National)

CES 2020 Census press package

On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Bureau of the Census will begin collecting demographic data for the 2020 Census, as directed by the U. S. Constitution. Initial preparation for a decennial census can begin up to a year and a half prior to the actual Census Day (April 1) and involves thousands of temporary workers conducting address canvassing and follow-up. Short-term field operations can also have very dynamic staffing levels that vary from day to day. During the various phases of a decennial census, the temporary and intermittent nature of the work can result in a significant impact on monthly employment estimates, as measured by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey. Hiring for the census is reflected in data for federal government, excluding U.S. postal service. Aggregate industries impacted by census temporary and intermittent worker hiring include federal government, government and total nonfarm. The following chart and tables detail the impact of the 2020 Census on CES Federal government, excluding postal service employment estimates.

Decennial census temporary and intermittent workers
All employees, in thousands, not seasonally adjusted
Employment level and over-the-month change*
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1990

Level 4 15 68 153 335 251 179 81 44 27 19 13
Change +4 +11 +53 +85 +182 -84 -72 -98 -37 -16 -8 -7
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1998

Level 1 3 3 2 14 12 29 41 20
Change +1 +2 0 -1 +12 -3 +17 +12 -22

1999

Level 23 40 38 22 8 9 11 17 18 11 13 15
Change +4 +17 -2 -16 -14 +1 +2 +6 +1 -7 1 2

2000

Level 32 59 154 181 530 305 232 146 24 11 6 1
Change +17 +27 +95 +28 +348 -225 -73 -86 -122 -12 -6 -4

2001

Level 2 2 1
Change +1 0 -1
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2008

Level 1 3
Change +1 +2

2009

Level 5 6 12 126C 69C 9C 4C 5 8 17 13 15
Change +2 +2 +5 +114 -57 -60 -5 +1 +3 +9 -4 +2

2010

Level 24 39 87 154 564 339 196 82 6 1 0 0
Change +9 +15 +48 +66 +411 -225 -143 -114 -77 -5 -1 0

2011

Level 1 3 3 0 0 0
Change +1 +2 0 -3 0 0
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2018

Level 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Change 0 +1 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0

2019

Level 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 27 28 9 5 8
Change 0 +1 0 0 +1 0 0 +24 +1 -20 -4 +3
2020 Level 13 20 37 42 27 23 50 288 247 99 6 3
Change +5 +7 +17 +4 -15 -4 +27 +238 -41 -147 -93 -3
2021 Level 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 3 1 0 0
Change -3 -1 0 0 0 +5 0 -2 -2 -1 0
Federal government, except U.S. postal service,
minus decennial census temporary and intermittent workers
All employees, in thousands, seasonally adjusted
Employment level and over-the-month change*
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1990

Level 2269 2264 2296 2277 2272 2254 2269 2267 2268 2264 2267 2285
Change +5 -5 +32 -19 -5 -18 +15 -2 +2 -4 +3 +19
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

1998

Level 1880 1886 1880 1890 1881 1876 1860 1856 1866
Change -13 +6 -6 +10 -9 -5 -16 -4 +11

1999

Level 1851 1842 1839 1862 1865 1867 1864 1869 1864 1872 1869 1866
Change -15 -9 -4 23 +4 +2 -3 +5 -6 +9 -3 -3

2000

Level 1855 1857 1848 1846 1834 1821 1832 1833 1844 1847 1852 1865
Change -11 +1 -9 -2 -12 -13 +11 +1 +11 +3 +5 +13

2001

Level 1872 1869 1876
Change +7 -2 +7
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2008

Level 2044 2047
Change +9 +3

2009

Level 2055 2062 2063 2075 2083 2100 2116 2125 2129 2140 2146 2155
Change +8 +8 +1 +12 +8 +17 +16 +9 +4 +11 +6 +9

2010

Level 2160 2165 2172 2169 2193 2195 2200 2207 2208 2213 2216 2221
Change +5 +5 +7 -2 +24 +2 +6 +6 +2 +5 +3 +6

2011

Level 2228 2230 2234 2234 2235 2229
Change +7 +2 +4 0 +1 -6
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2018

Level 2199 2199
Change 0 +1

2019

Level 2203 2205 2204 2215 2217 2222 2221 2221 2218 2221 2230 2226
Change +4 +2 -1 +11 +3 +5 -1 0 -3 +3 +9 -5
2020 Level 2235 2241 2242 2237 2247 2252 2259 2263 2270 2276 2280 2284
Change +9 +7 0 -4 +10 +5 +7 +4 +7 +6 +5 +3
2021 Level 2277 2277 2280 2282 2287 2278 2276 2279 2280 2280 2275
Change -6 0 +3 +2 +5 -9 -3 +4 +1 0 -5

 

Census 2020

 

Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Survey
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Temporary and intermittent workers for the decennial census perform short-term field operations, which have very dynamic staffing levels that vary from day to day.

Notes:
*There are two observations for each month. The first line shows employment in thousands, and the second line reflects the over-the-month change. Over-the-month changes may not add due to rounding.

C Corrected for level of intermittent Census workers

 

Last Modified Date: March 4, 2022