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Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on County Employment and Wages data for First Quarter 2021

This page provides further information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the First Quarter 2021 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 2021
Establishments collected Number of establishments Percent of establishments Employment Percent of employment

Total establishments

10,806,196 100.0% 141,347,347 100.0%

Single establishments

8,844,244 81.8% 77,086,748 54.5%

Multiple worksite reporter establishments

1,961,952 18.2% 64,260,599 45.5%

Collection methods

Total establishments

10,806,196 100.0% 141,347,347 100.0%

Total of BLS-collected establishments

1,116,055 10.3% 35,901,782 25.4%

BLS Electronic Data Interchange Center

483,468 4.5% 14,112,223 10.0%

BLS web data collection

632,587 5.8% 21,789,559 15.4%

Total of state-collected establishments

9,690,141 89.7% 105,445,565 74.6%

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 22 areas with lower response rates for establishments, 26 areas with lower response rates for employment, and 22 areas with lower response rates for total quarterly wages in first quarter 2021 compared with first quarter 2020.

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
2020 2021 Difference 2020 2021 Difference 2020 2021 Difference

United States[2]

90.8% 91.3% 0.5% 96.8% 96.8% 0.0% 97.6% 97.6% 0.0%

Alabama

90.8% 92.3% 1.5% 97.7% 96.4% -1.3% 97.7% 98.7% 1.0%

Alaska

96.8% 96.9% 0.1% 94.8% 93.7% -1.1% 91.2% 87.0% -4.2%

Arizona

90.3% 92.6% 2.3% 97.1% 97.2% 0.1% 98.5% 98.7% 0.2%

Arkansas

88.3% 88.0% -0.3% 98.0% 93.5% -4.5% 98.4% 98.8% 0.4%

California

94.8% 95.5% 0.7% 98.5% 98.6% 0.1% 99.3% 99.5% 0.2%

Colorado

91.8% 90.6% -1.2% 96.6% 94.2% -2.4% 97.8% 96.3% -1.5%

Connecticut

91.3% 91.2% -0.1% 93.5% 93.0% -0.5% 91.9% 90.1% -1.8%

Delaware

84.2% 81.8% -2.4% 87.5% 91.0% 3.5% 90.1% 88.7% -1.4%

District of Columbia

81.1% 82.0% 0.9% 93.1% 92.3% -0.8% 96.7% 96.6% -0.1%

Florida

89.4% 89.5% 0.1% 96.3% 94.4% -1.9% 97.3% 95.9% -1.4%

Georgia

78.2% 84.7% 6.5% 92.0% 96.8% 4.8% 92.6% 97.8% 5.2%

Hawaii

89.1% 88.7% -0.4% 97.6% 98.8% 1.2% 99.0% 99.4% 0.4%

Idaho

94.7% 94.2% -0.5% 95.2% 96.2% 1.0% 94.4% 96.8% 2.4%

Illinois

88.6% 89.6% 1.0% 99.3% 99.8% 0.5% 99.5% 99.9% 0.4%

Indiana

91.0% 92.5% 1.5% 95.0% 95.0% 0.0% 95.9% 98.6% 2.7%

Iowa

97.2% 97.0% -0.2% 97.8% 97.6% -0.2% 98.6% 98.4% -0.2%

Kansas

93.1% 95.8% 2.7% 97.1% 99.2% 2.1% 98.5% 98.5% 0.0%

Kentucky

88.9% 85.4% -3.5% 97.0% 96.4% -0.6% 98.2% 97.3% -0.9%

Louisiana

84.5% 84.8% 0.3% 96.9% 98.1% 1.2% 97.7% 98.8% 1.1%

Maine

93.5% 93.0% -0.5% 98.5% 97.5% -1.0% 99.0% 99.1% 0.1%

Maryland

89.9% 89.2% -0.7% 90.9% 95.8% 4.9% 94.1% 97.1% 3.0%

Massachusetts

92.6% 91.3% -1.3% 96.5% 96.6% 0.1% 97.4% 98.0% 0.6%

Michigan

86.6% 88.7% 2.1% 96.0% 95.8% -0.2% 97.1% 96.9% -0.2%

Minnesota

88.6% 87.7% -0.9% 96.3% 98.4% 2.1% 97.3% 98.1% 0.8%

Mississippi

88.9% 89.4% 0.5% 96.0% 94.5% -1.5% 96.7% 97.2% 0.5%

Missouri

90.2% 91.1% 0.9% 96.7% 97.4% 0.7% 96.6% 97.5% 0.9%

Montana

91.9% 92.9% 1.0% 97.4% 98.1% 0.7% 98.1% 98.5% 0.4%

Nebraska

96.1% 96.7% 0.6% 97.0% 99.1% 2.1% 99.2% 99.3% 0.1%

Nevada

92.5% 89.4% -3.1% 94.8% 92.9% -1.9% 95.6% 93.1% -2.5%

New Hampshire

94.2% 93.0% -1.2% 97.5% 94.9% -2.6% 97.9% 97.3% -0.6%

New Jersey

83.0% 85.2% 2.2% 97.1% 97.4% 0.3% 98.9% 98.6% -0.3%

New Mexico

88.1% 85.9% -2.2% 97.0% 96.3% -0.7% 97.8% 97.1% -0.7%

New York

90.3% 89.5% -0.8% 95.7% 95.8% 0.1% 96.4% 94.2% -2.2%

North Carolina

91.5% 92.6% 1.1% 98.8% 99.3% 0.5% 99.3% 99.5% 0.2%

North Dakota

93.7% 97.5% 3.8% 97.8% 99.2% 1.4% 98.0% 99.5% 1.5%

Ohio

91.9% 92.9% 1.0% 96.8% 95.8% -1.0% 98.7% 98.8% 0.1%

Oklahoma

83.6% 82.6% -1.0% 98.1% 97.3% -0.8% 98.2% 97.4% -0.8%

Oregon

90.4% 91.0% 0.6% 95.5% 95.0% -0.5% 95.7% 92.7% -3.0%

Pennsylvania

96.8% 97.8% 1.0% 94.9% 96.9% 2.0% 95.7% 95.6% -0.1%

Rhode Island

92.9% 93.6% 0.7% 96.2% 97.6% 1.4% 97.1% 97.8% 0.7%

South Carolina

90.0% 91.4% 1.4% 97.2% 96.0% -1.2% 98.5% 98.5% 0.0%

South Dakota

97.9% 98.9% 1.0% 96.8% 95.6% -1.2% 98.3% 96.7% -1.6%

Tennessee

89.9% 90.7% 0.8% 97.8% 95.5% -2.3% 98.6% 98.3% -0.3%

Texas

93.2% 94.1% 0.9% 98.0% 97.3% -0.7% 98.4% 98.8% 0.4%

Utah

95.7% 96.0% 0.3% 98.2% 98.0% -0.2% 99.0% 98.1% -0.9%

Vermont

94.1% 93.0% -1.1% 98.1% 98.3% 0.2% 98.6% 98.7% 0.1%

Virginia

90.4% 89.7% -0.7% 96.7% 97.1% 0.4% 97.9% 97.8% -0.1%

Washington

83.2% 80.0% -3.2% 98.0% 96.4% -1.6% 99.6% 98.0% -1.6%

West Virginia

93.4% 92.6% -0.8% 98.2% 96.7% -1.5% 98.6% 98.8% 0.2%

Wisconsin

95.8% 96.1% 0.3% 97.0% 96.4% -0.6% 98.1% 98.8% 0.7%

Wyoming

97.0% 97.8% 0.8% 97.8% 98.7% 0.9% 98.5% 98.8% 0.3%

Puerto Rico

82.6% 93.9% 11.3% 92.6% 96.6% 4.0% 93.0% 95.7% 2.7%

Virgin Islands

61.8% 61.2% -0.6% 93.2% 95.2% 2.0% 95.7% 96.8% 1.1%

[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 18, 2021