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State and Metro Area Employment, Hours, & Earnings
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MSA Production Worker Employment and Production Worker Hours and Earnings Restoration
With the August 21 release of July 2009 data, BLS resumed publication of Metropolitan Area hours and earnings. These series were discontinued from the establishment survey in March 2008 due to a reduction in funding that resulted from the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted on December 26, 2007. The funds to produce these series were restored with the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act enacted on March 11, 2009.
The restored series are comprised of three components. First, historical data through December 2007 are previously published estimates that were publicly available prior to January 2008. Second, the data from May 2009 to the present have been estimated using the standard CES estimation methodology for production worker employment, hours and earnings described in the BLS Handbook of Methods. (https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/sae/home.htm)
The third component, data for the period between January 2008 and April 2009, was developed using one of two alternative procedures. Some States continued to produce these estimates for their own publications throughout 2008 and early 2009; in these instances, States were able to submit estimates for this period developed using the standard methodology. For the remaining series, BLS used a time-series reconstruction methodology to produce data values which were then reviewed using standard CES review procedures.
BLS Time Series Reconstruction Methodology
BLS utilized X-12 ARIMA software, developed by the Census Bureau, to forecast data values from January 2008 through April 2009 based on the previously published series history. These forecasts were then anchored to a series endpoint derived by calculating a three month sample average ending in April 2009. The difference between the April 2009 sample average and the forecasted series endpoint was then incorporated into the series using a 16-month linear wedge.
Last Modified Date: August 21, 2009