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Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on County Employment and Wages data for First Quarter 2020

This page provides further information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the First Quarter 2020 County Employment and Wages news release.

Collection mode

QCEW data collection may be affected by the availability of state unemployment insurance (UI) staff, state labor market information (LMI) staff, BLS data collection staff, and business respondents. QCEW data are collected through several channels; most QCEW data come from state LMI departments that receive data from their UI tax department partners. QCEW also collects Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) data electronically through the BLS-operated MWR website and the BLS Electronic Data Interchange center. BLS manages a contract to print and collect MWR paper forms for 38 states. The remaining states print and mail forms directly. BLS offers respondents increased electronic reporting options, working with our MWR contractor to scan as much data as possible electronically, and researching other options to increase web reporting.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages collection by type and source, first quarter 2020
Establishments collected Number of establishments Percent of establishments Employment Percent of employment

Total establishments

10,498,187 100.0% 148,016,543 100.0%

Single establishments

8,548,137 81.4% 80,855,836 54.6%

Multiple worksite reporter establishments

1,950,050 18.6% 67,160,707 45.4%

Collection methods

Total establishments

10,498,187 100.0% 148,016,543 100.0%

Total of BLS-collected establishments

1,108,186 10.6% 37,831,379 25.6%

BLS Electronic Data Interchange Center

471,192 4.5% 14,533,404 9.8%

BLS web data collection

636,994 6.1% 23,297,975 15.7%

Total of state-collected establishments

9,390,001 89.4% 110,185,164 74.4%

Response rates

QCEW response rates are presented for establishments reporting employment in the third month of the quarter, employment, and total quarterly wages as first published. They are not updated with subsequent revisions to the data.

Overall, there were 41 areas with lower response rates for establishments, 36 areas with lower response rates for employment, and 31 areas with lower response rates for total quarterly wages in first quarter 2020 compared with first quarter 2019.

To access QCEW response rates summary and historical tables for previous quarters, see the QCEW Response Rates Tables page.

QCEW response rates for establishments[1], employment, and total wages (as first published)
State or territory First quarter establishments March employment First quarter total wages
2019 2020 Difference 2019 2020 Difference 2019 2020 Difference

United States[2]

92.0% 90.8% -1.2% 97.6% 96.8% -0.8% 97.9% 97.6% -0.3%

Alabama

88.4% 90.8% 2.4% 97.9% 97.7% -0.2% 98.5% 97.7% -0.8%

Alaska

96.5% 96.8% 0.3% 95.1% 94.8% -0.3% 89.5% 91.2% 1.7%

Arizona

91.8% 90.3% -1.5% 97.1% 97.1% 0.0% 98.3% 98.5% 0.2%

Arkansas

89.4% 88.3% -1.1% 97.9% 98.0% 0.1% 98.0% 98.4% 0.4%

California

95.3% 94.8% -0.5% 98.9% 98.5% -0.4% 99.2% 99.3% 0.1%

Colorado

93.1% 91.8% -1.3% 95.9% 96.6% 0.7% 96.1% 97.8% 1.7%

Connecticut

92.3% 91.3% -1.0% 95.4% 93.5% -1.9% 91.3% 91.9% 0.6%

Delaware

88.2% 84.2% -4.0% 96.1% 87.5% -8.6% 95.4% 90.1% -5.3%

District of Columbia

81.7% 81.1% -0.6% 97.4% 93.1% -4.3% 98.9% 96.7% -2.2%

Florida

91.4% 89.4% -2.0% 98.4% 96.3% -2.1% 98.6% 97.3% -1.3%

Georgia

90.5% 78.2% -12.3% 98.1% 92.0% -6.1% 98.9% 92.6% -6.3%

Hawaii

93.2% 89.1% -4.1% 99.1% 97.6% -1.5% 99.6% 99.0% -0.6%

Idaho

93.8% 94.7% 0.9% 97.2% 95.2% -2.0% 95.6% 94.4% -1.2%

Illinois

90.5% 88.6% -1.9% 99.6% 99.3% -0.3% 99.7% 99.5% -0.2%

Indiana

92.0% 91.0% -1.0% 96.5% 95.0% -1.5% 98.5% 95.9% -2.6%

Iowa

96.7% 97.2% 0.5% 97.4% 97.8% 0.4% 98.4% 98.6% 0.2%

Kansas

95.6% 93.1% -2.5% 98.4% 97.1% -1.3% 99.3% 98.5% -0.8%

Kentucky

90.7% 88.9% -1.8% 97.0% 97.0% 0.0% 97.8% 98.2% 0.4%

Louisiana

88.0% 84.5% -3.5% 97.0% 96.9% -0.1% 97.9% 97.7% -0.2%

Maine

90.4% 93.5% 3.1% 95.0% 98.5% 3.5% 93.9% 99.0% 5.1%

Maryland

92.4% 89.9% -2.5% 98.1% 90.9% -7.2% 98.3% 94.1% -4.2%

Massachusetts

92.0% 92.6% 0.6% 98.4% 96.5% -1.9% 98.7% 97.4% -1.3%

Michigan

82.0% 86.6% 4.6% 95.9% 96.0% 0.1% 96.9% 97.1% 0.2%

Minnesota

91.0% 88.6% -2.4% 98.6% 96.3% -2.3% 99.0% 97.3% -1.7%

Mississippi

89.5% 88.9% -0.6% 96.7% 96.0% -0.7% 96.9% 96.7% -0.2%

Missouri

93.3% 90.2% -3.1% 97.4% 96.7% -0.7% 97.7% 96.6% -1.1%

Montana

95.7% 91.9% -3.8% 98.0% 97.4% -0.6% 99.1% 98.1% -1.0%

Nebraska

97.4% 96.1% -1.3% 98.9% 97.0% -1.9% 99.6% 99.2% -0.4%

Nevada

93.4% 92.5% -0.9% 95.1% 94.8% -0.3% 96.7% 95.6% -1.1%

New Hampshire

95.0% 94.2% -0.8% 98.0% 97.5% -0.5% 98.6% 97.9% -0.7%

New Jersey

86.1% 83.0% -3.1% 97.8% 97.1% -0.7% 99.3% 98.9% -0.4%

New Mexico

91.3% 88.1% -3.2% 97.2% 97.0% -0.2% 98.0% 97.8% -0.2%

New York

91.5% 90.3% -1.2% 96.4% 95.7% -0.7% 95.9% 96.4% 0.5%

North Carolina

95.4% 91.5% -3.9% 99.1% 98.8% -0.3% 99.1% 99.3% 0.2%

North Dakota

97.9% 93.7% -4.2% 98.9% 97.8% -1.1% 98.8% 98.0% -0.8%

Ohio

92.5% 91.9% -0.6% 96.9% 96.8% -0.1% 98.4% 98.7% 0.3%

Oklahoma

85.8% 83.6% -2.2% 97.9% 98.1% 0.2% 97.1% 98.2% 1.1%

Oregon

90.8% 90.4% -0.4% 96.8% 95.5% -1.3% 97.5% 95.7% -1.8%

Pennsylvania

97.2% 96.8% -0.4% 95.7% 94.9% -0.8% 95.4% 95.7% 0.3%

Rhode Island

94.3% 92.9% -1.4% 97.3% 96.2% -1.1% 97.7% 97.1% -0.6%

South Carolina

77.6% 90.0% 12.4% 96.2% 97.2% 1.0% 96.8% 98.5% 1.7%

South Dakota

98.1% 97.9% -0.2% 94.9% 96.8% 1.9% 94.7% 98.3% 3.6%

Tennessee

90.8% 89.9% -0.9% 97.6% 97.8% 0.2% 98.6% 98.6% 0.0%

Texas

94.3% 93.2% -1.1% 97.5% 98.0% 0.5% 97.8% 98.4% 0.6%

Utah

96.3% 95.7% -0.6% 98.0% 98.2% 0.2% 99.3% 99.0% -0.3%

Vermont

96.7% 94.1% -2.6% 98.9% 98.1% -0.8% 99.4% 98.6% -0.8%

Virginia

89.9% 90.4% 0.5% 97.8% 96.7% -1.1% 98.7% 97.9% -0.8%

Washington

84.8% 83.2% -1.6% 97.2% 98.0% 0.8% 95.8% 99.6% 3.8%

West Virginia

92.8% 93.4% 0.6% 98.3% 98.2% -0.1% 98.7% 98.6% -0.1%

Wisconsin

96.1% 95.8% -0.3% 97.0% 97.0% 0.0% 98.5% 98.1% -0.4%

Wyoming

96.1% 97.0% 0.9% 96.2% 97.8% 1.6% 98.0% 98.5% 0.5%

Puerto Rico

92.9% 82.6% -10.3% 95.7% 92.6% -3.1% 95.7% 93.0% -2.7%

Virgin Islands

61.5% 61.8% 0.3% 90.2% 93.2% 3.0% 91.1% 95.7% 4.6%

[1] Percentage of establishments reporting employment in the third month of the quarter.

[2] Percentage reported for the United States includes data for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Last Modified Date: August 19, 2020