Technical Note
These data are the product of a federal-state cooperative program, the Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from
summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment
insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The summaries are
a result of the administration of state unemployment insurance programs that require most
employers to pay quarterly taxes based on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI.
QCEW data in this release are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS). Data for 2020 are preliminary and subject to revision.
For purposes of this release, large counties are defined as having employment levels of 75,000 or
greater. In addition, data for San Juan, PR, are provided, but not used in calculating U.S. averages,
rankings, or in the analysis in the text. Each year, these large counties are selected on the basis of
the preliminary annual average of employment for the previous year. The 358 counties presented in
this release were derived using 2019 preliminary annual averages of employment. For 2020 data,
three counties have been added to the publication tables: Baldwin, AL; Iredell, NC; and Gregg,
TX. One county has been dropped from the publication tables: Bay, FL. These counties will be
included or excluded, respectively, in all 2020 quarterly releases. The counties in table 2 are
selected and sorted each year based on the annual average employment from the preceding year.
The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the
individual states. These potential differences result from the states' continuing receipt of UI data
over time and ongoing review and editing. The individual states determine their data release
timetables.
Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures
The Bureau publishes three different establishment-based employment measures for any given
quarter: QCEW, Business Employment Dynamics (BED), and Current Employment Statistics
(CES). Each of these measures makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing
data; however, each measure has a somewhat different universe coverage, estimation procedure,
and publication product.
Differences in coverage and estimation methods can result in somewhat different measures of
employment change over time. It is important to understand program differences and the intended
uses of the program products. (See table.) Additional information on each program can be obtained
from the program Web sites shown in the table.
Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| QCEW | BED | CES
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Source |--Count of UI admini-|--Count of longitudi- |--Sample survey:
| strative records | nally-linked UI ad- | 697,000 establish-
| submitted by 10.4 | ministrative records| ments
| million establish- | submitted by 8.3 |
| ments in first | million private-sec-|
| quarter of 2020 | tor employers |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI coverage, exclud-|--Nonfarm wage and sal-
| age, including all | ing government, pri-| ary jobs:
| employers subject | vate households, and| -UI coverage, exclud-
| to state and fed- | establishments with | ing agriculture, pri-
| eral UI laws | zero employment | vate households, and
| | | self-employed workers
| | | -Other employment,
| | | including railroads,
| | | religious organiza-
| | | tions, and other non-
| | | UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly |--Quarterly |--Monthly
frequency | -Within 5 months | -7 months after the | -Usually the 3rd
| after the end of | end of each quarter| Friday after the end
| each quarter | | of the week including
| | | the 12th of the month
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Use of UI |--Directly summarizes|--Links each new UI |--Uses UI file as a sa-
file | and publishes each | quarter to longitu- | mpling frame and to
| new quarter of UI | dinal database and | annually realign sam-
| data | directly summarizes | plebased estimates to
| | gross job gains and | population counts
| | losses | (benchmarking)
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal |--Provides a quarter-|--Provides quarterly |--Provides current mon-
products | ly and annual uni- | employer dynamics | thly estimates of emp-
| verse count of es- | data on establish- | loyment, hours, and
| tablishments, em- | ment openings, clos-| earnings at the MSA,
| ployment, and wages| ings, expansions, | state, and national
| at the county, MSA,| and contractions at | level by industry
| state, and national| the national level |
| levels by detailed | by NAICS supersec- |
| industry | tors and by size of |
| | firm, and at the |
| | state private-sector|
| | total level |
| |--Future expansions |
| | will include data |
| | with greater indus- |
| | try detail and data |
| | at the county and |
| | MSA level |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal |--Detailed locality |--Business cycle |--Principal federal
uses | data | analysis | economic indicator
| | | (PFEI)
|--Periodic universe |--Analysis of employ- |--Official time series
| counts for bench- | er dynamics under- | for employment change
| marking sample | lying economic ex- | measures
| survey estimates | pansions and con- |--Input into other ma-
|--Sample frame for | tractions | jor economic indi-
| BLS establishment |--Analysis of employ- | cators
| surveys | ment expansion and |
| | contraction by size |
| | of firm |
| | |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Program |--www.bls.gov/cew |--www.bls.gov/bdm |--www.bls.gov/ces
Web sites | | |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coverage
Employment and wage data for workers covered by state UI laws are compiled from quarterly
contribution reports submitted to the SWAs by employers. For federal civilian workers covered by
the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, employment and
wage data are compiled from quarterly reports submitted by four major federal payroll processing
centers on behalf of all federal agencies, with the exception of a few agencies which still report
directly to the individual SWA. In addition to the quarterly contribution reports, employers who
operate multiple establishments within a state complete a questionnaire, called the "Multiple
Worksite Report," which provides detailed information on the location and industry of each of their
establishments. QCEW employment and wage data are derived from microdata summaries of 10.2
million employer reports of employment and wages submitted by states to the BLS in 2019. These
reports are based on place of employment rather than place of residence.
UI and UCFE coverage is broad and has been basically comparable from state to state since 1978,
when the 1976 amendments to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act became effective, expanding
coverage to include most state and local government employees. In 2019, UI and UCFE programs
covered workers in 148.1 million jobs. The estimated 142.5 million workers in these jobs (after
adjustment for multiple jobholders) represented 97.1 percent of civilian wage and salary
employment. Covered workers received $8.769 trillion in pay, representing 94.2 percent of the
wage and salary component of personal income and 40.9 percent of the gross domestic product.
Major exclusions from UI coverage include self-employed workers, most agricultural workers on
small farms, all members of the Armed Forces, elected officials in most states, most employees of
railroads, some domestic workers, most student workers at schools, and employees of certain small
nonprofit organizations.
State and federal UI laws change periodically. These changes may have an impact on the
employment and wages reported by employers covered under the UI program. Coverage changes
may affect the over-the-year comparisons presented in this news release.
Concepts and methodology
Monthly employment is based on the number of workers who worked during or received pay for
the pay period including the 12th of the month. With few exceptions, all employees of covered
firms are reported, including production and sales workers, corporation officials, executives,
supervisory personnel, and clerical workers. Workers on paid vacations and part-time workers also
are included.
Average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the
three monthly employment levels (all employees, as described above) and dividing the result by
13, for the 13 weeks in the quarter. These calculations are made using unrounded employment and
wage values. The average wage values that can be calculated using rounded data from the BLS
database may differ from the averages reported. Included in the quarterly wage data are non-wage
cash payments such as bonuses, the cash value of meals and lodging when supplied, tips and other
gratuities, and, in some states, employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans such
as 401(k) plans and stock options. Over-the-year comparisons of average weekly wages may
reflect fluctuations in average monthly employment and/or total quarterly wages between the
current quarter and prior year levels.
Average weekly wages are affected by the ratio of full-time to part-time workers as well as the
number of individuals in high-paying and low-paying occupations and the incidence of pay periods
within a quarter. For instance, the average weekly wage of the workforce could increase
significantly when there is a large decline in the number of employees that had been receiving
below-average wages. Wages may include payments to workers not present in the employment
counts because they did not work during the pay period including the 12th of the month. When
comparing average weekly wage levels between industries, states, or quarters, these factors should
be taken into consideration.
Wages measured by QCEW may be subject to periodic and sometimes large fluctuations. This
variability may be due to calendar effects resulting from some quarters having more pay dates than
others. The effect is most visible in counties with a dominant employer. In particular, this effect
has been observed in counties where government employers represent a large fraction of overall
employment. Similar calendar effects can result from private sector pay practices. However, these
effects are typically less pronounced for two reasons: employment is less concentrated in a single
private employer, and private employers use a variety of pay period types (weekly, biweekly,
semimonthly, monthly).
For example, the effect on over-the-year pay comparisons can be pronounced in federal
government due to the uniform nature of federal payroll processing. Most federal employees are
paid on a biweekly pay schedule. As a result, in some quarters federal wages include six pay dates,
while in other quarters there are seven pay dates. Over-the-year comparisons of average weekly
wages may also reflect this calendar effect. Growth in average weekly wages may be attributed, in
part, to a comparison of quarterly wages for the current year, which include seven pay dates, with
year-ago wages that reflect only six pay dates. An opposite effect will occur when wages in the
current quarter reflecting six pay dates are compared with year-ago wages for a quarter including
seven pay dates.
In order to ensure the highest possible quality of data, states verify with employers and update, if
necessary, the industry, location, and ownership classification of all establishments on a 3-year
cycle. Changes in establishment classification codes resulting from this process are introduced with
the data reported for the first quarter of the year. Changes resulting from improved employer
reporting also are introduced in the first quarter.
QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual
establishment records and reflect the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at
a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons
that reflect economic events or administrative changes. For example, economic change would
come from a firm relocating into the county; administrative change would come from a company
correcting its county designation.
QCEW imputes employment and wages for nonrespondents. Records are imputed for two quarters
of nonresponse. After two quarters of nonresponse, BLS drops the establishment from the
universe. QCEW state staff attempt to contact large missing employers in the first quarter of
nonresponse. Effective with the release of totals for the second quarter of 2020, imputation is based
on the current trend of reported employment and wages. Nonrespondents are not included in totals
if unemployment claims indicate that the worksite is not in operation. Imputation methodology is
described in more detail at www.bls.gov/cew/additional-resources/imputation-methodology.htm.
The over-the-year changes of employment and wages presented in this release have been adjusted
to account for most of the administrative corrections made to the underlying establishment reports.
This is done by modifying the prior-year levels used to calculate the over-the-year changes.
Percent changes are calculated using an adjusted version of the final 2019 quarterly data as the
base data. The adjusted prior-year levels used to calculate the over-the-year percent change in
employment and wages are not published. These adjusted prior-year levels do not match the
unadjusted data maintained on the BLS Web site. Over-the-year change calculations based on data
from the Web site, or from data published in prior BLS news releases, may differ substantially
from the over-the-year changes presented in this news release.
The adjusted data used to calculate the over-the-year change measures presented in this release
eliminate the effect of most of the administrative changes (those occurring when employers update
the industry, location, and ownership information of their establishments). The most common
adjustments for administrative change are the result of updated information about the county
location of individual establishments. Included in these adjustments are administrative changes
involving the classification of establishments that were previously reported in the unknown or
statewide county or unknown industry categories. Adjusted data account for improvements in
reporting employment and wages for individual and multi-unit establishments. To accomplish this,
adjustments were implemented to account for: administrative changes caused by multi-unit
employers who start reporting for each individual establishment rather than as a single entity (first
quarter of 2008); selected large administrative changes in employment and wages (second quarter
of 2011); and state verified improvements in reporting of employment and wages (third quarter of
2014). These adjustments allow QCEW to include county employment and wage growth rates in
this news release that would otherwise not meet publication standards.
The adjusted data used to calculate the over-the-year change measures presented in any County
Employment and Wages news release are valid for comparisons between the starting and ending
points (a 12-month period) used in that particular release. Comparisons may not be valid for any
time period other than the one featured in a release even if the changes were calculated using
adjusted data.
County definitions are assigned according to Federal Information Processing Standards
Publications (FIPS PUBS) as issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, after
approval by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to Section 5131 of the Information Technology
Management Reform Act of 1996 and the Computer Security Act of 1987, Public Law 104-106.
Areas shown as counties include those designated as independent cities in some jurisdictions and,
in Alaska, those designated as census areas where counties have not been created. County data also
are presented for the New England states for comparative purposes even though townships are the
more common designation used in New England (and New Jersey). The regions referred to in this
release are defined as census regions.
Additional statistics and other information
Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed
industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2019 edition
of this publication, which was published in September 2020, contains selected data produced by
Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the
first quarter 2020 version of this news release. Tables and additional content from the 2019 edition
of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online are now available at
www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2019/home.htm. The
2020 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September
2021.
News releases on quarterly measures of gross job flows also are available from BED at
www.bls.gov/bdm, (202) 691-6467, or data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/forms/bdm.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.
Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: (800) 877-8339.
United States Department of Labor
