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Handbook of Methods Current Population Survey More Info

Current Population Survey: More Info

Visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Population Survey (CPS) homepage for additional information. Browse CPS topics, using the A to Z index, with links to data, reports, and more.

Obtain CPS statistics from a number of sources, including the following:

• News releases and reports
• Monthly, quarterly, and annual tables
• The LABSTAT online database, including a subject index to CPS database series, using various tools to access historical data series

Get contact information for the CPS staff at BLS

See How the Government Measures Unemployment, which contains a nontechnical description of how the national unemployment statistics are developed from the CPS.

Get technical documentation about topics such as the following:

• Historical comparability of estimates
• Industry and occupation classification systems
• Population control adjustments
• Seasonal adjustment
• Reliability of estimates

In addition, see the following Census Bureau technical documentation about data collection and survey design:

• The CPS questionnaire
• An overview of CPS methodology
• Comprehensive documentation about the design and methodology of the CPS

Researchers and others interested in working directly with CPS microdata files can download these files for free, along with accompanying documentation, from the Census Bureau’s DataWeb FTP page. In addition to the monthly microdata files, data for many CPS supplemental surveys are available.