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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Office of Survey Methods Research > Publications > Browse Research Papers

Alternative Methods for Updating Wage Data From the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey

Shail J. Butani, Kenneth W. Robertson, and George S. Werking, Jr.

Abstract

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey utilizes three years of data to produce estimates of employment and wage rates by occupation. In order to limit the bias inherent in using older wage data to estimate current period wage rates, we utilize a procedure to update previous year's wage data to the current period. The current procedure uses estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Cost Index for the time periods of interest to develop the rate of change in wages at the occupational group level. In this paper we explore alternatives to the current procedure.