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Average consumer prices are calculated for household fuel, motor fuel, and food items from prices collected for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Average prices are best used to measure the price level in a particular month, not to measure price change over time. It is more appropriate to use the CU (Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers) or CW (Consumer Price Index - Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) and its individual item indexes to measure price change.

Prices, except for electricity, are collected monthly by BLS representatives in the 85 urban areas priced for the CPI. Electricity prices are collected for the BLS for the same 85 areas on a monthly basis by the Department of Energy using mail questionnaires. All fuel prices include applicable Federal, State, and local taxes; prices for natural gas and electricity also include fuel and purchased gas adjustments.

Average consumer prices for food are available for the U.S. city average and four regions. Average consumer prices for household fuel and motor fuel are available for the U.S. city average, 28 urban areas, four regions, and 16 region/size class groupings. Monthly data are available for up to six household fuel categories, six motor fuel categories, and 104 food categories.

All data are monthly; annual averages are not available. Average prices are stored to three decimal places. Updates become available near the 15th of the month following the reference month.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a statistical measure of change, over time, of the prices of goods and services in major expenditure groups — such as food, housing, apparel, transportation, and medical care — typically purchased by urban consumers. Essentially, it compares the cost of a sample "market basket" of goods and services in a specific month relative to the cost of the same "market basket" in an earlier reference period, known as the base period.

The revised CPI introduced by the BLS in 1998 includes indexes for two populations: urban wage earners and clerical workers (CW), and all urban consumers (CU). Both the CW and the CU utilize updated expenditure weights based upon data tabulated from three years (1982, 1983, and 1984) of the Consumer Expenditure Survey and incorporate a number of technical improvements, including an updated and revised item structure. To construct the two indexes, prices for about 100,000 items and data on about 8,300 housing units are collected in a sample of 91 urban places.

Comparison of indexes for individual CMSAs or cities shows only the relative change over time in prices between locations. These indexes cannot be used to measure interarea differences in price levels or living costs. U.S. average indexes for both populations are available for about 305 consumer items and groups of items. In addition, over 100 of the indexes have been adjusted for seasonality. The indexes are monthly with some beginning in 1913. Semi-annual indexes have been calculated for about 100 items for comparison with semi-annual areas. Semi-annual indexes are available from 1984 forward.

Area indexes for both populations are available for 26 urban places, with indexes published for about 42 items and groups per area. The indexes are published monthly for three areas, bimonthly for eleven areas, and semi-annually for 12 urban areas. Regional indexes for both populations are available for four regions with about 55 items and groups per region; these are monthly from January 1987 forward, with some beginning as early as 1966. City-size indexes for both populations are available for three size classes with about 55 items and groups per class, and are monthly from January 1987 with most beginning in 1977. Region/city-size indexes cross-classify by region and city-size class, providing about 42 items and groups for each of 13 cross calculations, monthly from January 1987.

Annual averages are available for all unadjusted series in the CW and CU. Most indexes have a base period of 1982-1984 = 100; other indexes added with the 1998 revision are based more recently. The base period value is 100.0, except for the "Purchasing Power" values (AAOR and SAOR) where the base period value is 1.000. Indexes are stored to one decimal place, except for the "Purchasing Power" values which are stored to three decimal places. Updates become available near the 15th of the month following the reference month.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, "Consumer Price Index", BLS Bulletin 2285, April 1988.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a statistical measure of change, over time, of the prices of goods and services in major expenditure groups — such as food, housing, apparel, transportation, and medical care — typically purchased by urban consumers. Essentially, it compares the cost of a sample "market basket" of goods and services in a specific month relative to the cost of the same "market basket" in an earlier reference period, known as the base period.

The revised CPI introduced by the BLS in 1998 includes indexes for two populations: urban wage earners and clerical workers (CW), and all urban consumers (CU). Both the CW and the CU utilize updated expenditure weights based upon data tabulated from three years (1982, 1983, and 1984) of the Consumer Expenditure Survey and incorporate a number of technical improvements, including an updated and revised item structure. To construct the two indexes, prices for about 100,000 items and data on about 8,300 housing units are collected in a sample of 91 urban places.

Comparison of indexes for individual CMSAs or cities shows only the relative change over time in prices between locations. These indexes cannot be used to measure interarea differences in price levels or living costs. U.S. average indexes for both populations are available for about 305 consumer items and groups of items. In addition, over 100 of the indexes have been adjusted for seasonality. The indexes are monthly with some beginning in 1913. Semi-annual indexes have been calculated for about 100 items for comparison with semi-annual areas. Semi-annual indexes are available from 1984 forward.

Area indexes for both populations are available for 26 urban places, with indexes published for about 42 items and groups per area. The indexes are published monthly for three areas, bimonthly for eleven areas, and semi-annually for 12 urban areas. Regional indexes for both populations are available for four regions with about 55 items and groups per region; these are monthly from January 1987 forward, with some beginning as early as 1966. City-size indexes for both populations are available for three size classes with about 55 items and groups per class, and are monthly from January 1987 with most beginning in 1977. Region/city-size indexes cross-classify by region and city-size class, providing about 42 items and groups for each of 13 cross calculations, monthly from January 1987.

Annual averages are available for all unadjusted series in the CW and CU. Most indexes have a base period of 1982-1984 = 100; other indexes added with the 1998 revision are based more recently. The base period value is 100.0, except for the "Purchasing Power" values (AAOR and SAOR) where the base period value is 1.000. Indexes are stored to one decimal place, except for the "Purchasing Power" values which are stored to three decimal places. Updates become available near the 15th of the month following the reference month.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, "Consumer Price Index", BLS Bulletin 2285, April 1988.

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) was introduced with the release of July data in August 2002. It supplements the existing Consumer Price Indexes produced by the BLS: the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The C-CPI-U employs a Tornqvist formula and utilizes expenditure data in adjacent time periods in order to reflect the effect of any substitution that consumers make across item categories in response to changes in relative prices. The new measure is designed to be a closer approximation to a "cost-of-living" index than the present measures.

The use of expenditure data for both a base period and the current period distinguishes the C-CPI-U from the existing CPI measures, which use only a single expenditure base period to compute price change over time. In 1999, the BLS introduced a geometric mean estimator for averaging prices within most of the index's item categories to approximate consumers' responses to changes in relative prices within item categories. This geometric mean estimator is used in the C-CPI-U in the same item categories in which it is used in the CPI-U and CPI-W.

Expenditure data required for the calculation of the C-CPI-U are available only with a time lag. Thus, the C-CPI-U is issued first in preliminary form and is subject to two subsequent revisions: from "initial" to "interim" and from "interim" to "final." Final values become available when the monthly expenditure data from the relevant calendar year become available, approximately two years after original publication. The C-CPI-U index revisions are expected to be small, but in principle each monthly index could be revised from its previously published level.

The C-CPI-U will be issued for national averages only and will not be seasonally adjusted. It employs a December 1999=100 reference base. Data for periods prior to December 1999 will not be calculated.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) program releases about 10,000 PPIs for individual products and groups of products each month. PPIs are available for the output of nearly all industries in the goods-producing sectors of the U.S. economy — mining, manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, and forestry — as well as natural gas, electricity, construction, and goods competitive with those made in the producing sectors, such as waste and scrap materials. The PPI program covers approximately 72 percent of the service sector's output, as measured by revenue reported in the 2007 Economic Census, with data for industries in wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; finance and insurance; real estate brokering, rental, and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; administrative, support, and waste management services; health care and social assistance; and accommodation.

To the extent possible, prices used in constructing the indexes are the actual revenue or net transaction prices producers receive for sales of their outputs. Scientific (probability) sampling techniques are used to select reporting establishments, products, and transactions for all types and volumes of output.

The commodity classification structure of the PPI organizes products by similarity of end use or material composition, regardless of whether the products are classified as primary or secondary in their industry of origin. This hierarchical system starts with major commodity groupings (2-digit level), then subgroups (3-digit), product classes (4-digit), subproduct classes (5- and 6-digit), item groupings (7-digit), and individual items (8-, 9-, and 10-digit levels). Commodity-based Final Demand-Intermediate Demand (FD-ID) price indexes regroup commodities at the subproduct class (six-digit) level, according to the class of buyer and the amount of physical processing or assembling the products have undergone.

More than 4,000 commodity price indexes organized by product, service, and end use are available, with some indexes by Final Demand-Intermediate Demand and by durability of product available back to 1947. Seasonally adjusted data are available for about 360 commodity indexes. Observations are monthly. Annual averages are available for all series published each month of the year that are unadjusted for seasonality. All indexes are stored with one decimal place. Updates are made near the middle of the month following a given reference month. Data are subject to revision four months after their original publication.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 14, "Producer Prices", Online at http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch14.htm

The Producer Price Index (PPI) Revision-Current Series indexes reflect price movements for the net output of producers organized according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The dataset is compatible with a wide assortment of NAICS-based economic time series including productivity, production, employment, wages, and earnings.

The PPI universe consists of the output of all industries in the goods-producing sectors of the U.S. economy — mining, manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, and forestry — as well as natural gas, electricity, construction, and goods competitive with those made in the producing sectors, such as waste and scrap materials. As of January 2011, the PPI program covered more than three-quarters of the service sector's output, publishing data for selected industries in wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; finance and insurance; real estate brokering, rental, and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; administrative, support, and waste management services; health care and social assistance; and accommodation.

The commodity classification structure of the PPI organizes products by similarity of end use or material composition, regardless of whether the products are classified as primary or secondary in their industry of origin. This hierarchical structure starts with major commodity groupings (2-digit level), then subgroups (3-digit), product classes (4-digit), subproduct classes (5- and 6-digit), item groupings (7-digit), and individual items (8-, 9-, and 10-digit levels). Commodity-based SOP price indexes regroup commodities at the subproduct class (six-digit) level, according to the class of buyer and the amount of physical processing or assembling the products have undergone.

To the extent possible, prices used in constructing the indexes are the actual revenue or net transaction prices producers receive for sales of their outputs. Scientific (probability) sampling techniques are used to select reporting establishments, products, and transactions for all types and volumes of output. Coverage includes roughly 500 mining and manufacturing industries and approximately 150 services industries. BLS collects over 100,000 price quotations each month covering over 600 industries and over 6,000 products and product categories.

More than 4,000 commodity price indexes organized by product, service, and end use are available. Indexes by stage of processing (52 series) and by durability of product (8 series) are available back to 1947. Data are also available for 29 special commodity groupings. Seasonally adjusted data are available for about 360 commodity indexes. Observations are monthly in most cases. Annual averages are available for all series published each month of the year that are unadjusted for seasonality. All indexes are stored with one decimal place. Updates are made near the middle of the month following a given reference month. The majority of series discontinuations are done on a semiannual basis, with the release of January and July data.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 14, "Producer Prices", Online at http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch14.htm

The Producer Price Index (PPI) Revision-Discontinued Series indexes reflect price movements for the net output of producers organized according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The dataset is compatible with a wide assortment of NAICS-based economic time series including productivity, production, employment, wages, and earnings.

The PPI universe consists of the output of all industries in the goods-producing sectors of the U.S. economy — mining, manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, and forestry — as well as natural gas, electricity, construction, and goods competitive with those made in the producing sectors, such as waste and scrap materials. As of January 2011, the PPI program covered more than three-quarters of the service sector's output, publishing data for selected industries in wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; finance and insurance; real estate brokering, rental, and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; administrative, support, and waste management services; health care and social assistance; and accommodation.

To the extent possible, prices used in constructing the indexes are the actual revenue or net transaction prices producers receive for sales of their outputs. Scientific (probability) sampling techniques are used to select reporting establishments, products, and transactions for all types and volumes of output. Coverage includes roughly 500 mining and manufacturing industries and approximately 150 services industries. The PPI measures changes in prices received by domestic producers; import products are not priced in the survey. BLS collects over 100,000 price quotations each month covering over 600 industries and over 6,000 products and product categories.

Observations are monthly in most cases. Annual averages are available. All indexes are stored with one decimal place. Updates are usually available on or before the 15th day of the month following a given reference month. Effective with the release of the January 2004 data, the PPI program converted from the SIC System to the NAICS System. With the release of July 2004 indexes, the PPI produced a separate dataset for discontinued NAICS-based indexes.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 14, "Producer Prices", Online at http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch14.htm

The PPI universe for discontinued commodity series consists of the output of all industries in the goods-producing sectors of the U.S. economy- mining, manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, and forestry- as well as natural gas, electricity, construction, and goods competitive with those made in the producing sectors, such as waste and scrap materials. In addition, as of January 2011, the PPI program covered more than three-quarters of the service sector's output, publishing data for selected industries in the following industry sectors: wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; finance and insurance; real estate brokering, rental, and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; administrative, support, and waste management services; health care and social assistance; and accommodation.

To the extent possible, prices used in constructing the indexes are the actual revenue or net transaction prices producers receive for sales of their outputs. Scientific (probability) sampling techniques are used to select reporting establishments, products, and transactions for all types and volumes of output (not just volume-sellers).

The commodity classification structure of the PPI organizes products by similarity of end use or material composition, regardless of whether the products are classified as primary or secondary in their industry of origin. This system is unique to the PPI and does not match any other standard coding structure. The commodity classification system is organized as a hierarchical structure that starts with major commodity groupings (2-digit level of aggregation). Each major commodity grouping includes (in descending order of aggregation) subgroups (3-digit level), product classes (4-digit level), subproduct classes (5- and 6-digit level), item groupings (7-digit level), and individual items (8-, 9-, and 10-digit levels). Commodity-based SOP price indexes regroup commodities at the subproduct class (six-digit) level, according to the class of buyer and the amount of physical processing or assembling the products have undergone.

More than 4,000 commodity price indexes organized by product, service, and end use. Indexes by stage of processing (52 series) and by durability of product (8 series) are available back to 1947.

In addition, data are available for 29 special commodity groupings. Seasonally adjusted data are available for about 360 commodity indexes.

Observations are monthly in most cases. All indexes are stored with one decimal place.

Updates are made near the middle of the month following a given reference month. For example, January index data are made available in February. The majority of discontinuation of series is done on a semiannual basis, with the release of January and July data.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 14, "Producer Prices", Online at http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch14.htm

LABSTAT contains merchandise import and export index time series based on several classification systems and selected import and export services indexes. Full coverage of merchandise imports began in February 1983 and full coverage of merchandise exports began in 1984. Prior to 1974, data was collected in June only. From 1974 through 1992, all data was published quarterly. Beginning in 1993, two-digit price data is available on a monthly basis through the International Price Index press release, while more detailed information is available through supplemental tables.

Indexes and percentage changes are calculated to one decimal place. Monthly data may be revised in each of the three months after original publication.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, "International price indexes", Bulletin 2490 (1997). "Comparisons of United States, German, and Japanese Export Price Indexes", BLS Bulletin 2046 (1980).

The Current Employment Statistics Program provides employment, paid hours, and earnings information on a national basis in considerable industrial detail. The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data each month from a sample of establishments in all nonfarm activities including government. A sample of approximately 145,000 businesses and government agencies representing approximately 557,000 worksites throughout the United States is utilized for this monthly survey. For hours and earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers in private, nonagricultural industries, the sample contains about 270,000 employer units.

The data include series for total employment; number of women employees; number of production or nonsupervisory employees; and for both all employees and for production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings, average weekly hours, average weekly earnings, and average weekly overtime hours. Overtime hours are produced for manufacturing industries only. All employment, hours, and earnings series are classified according to the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The industry code used in the survey corresponds to the NAICS code, except in those cases where more than one NAICS has been combined.

For all employees, women, and production or nonsupervisory employees, over 4,400 published monthly employment series are available. The series for all employees include more than 900 industries seasonally adjusted and over 900 not seasonally adjusted at various levels of aggregation. About 6,800 series are published each month for average weekly earnings, average hourly earnings, average weekly hours, and, in manufacturing, average weekly overtime hours. Hours and earnings data are available for about 600 industries. Over 5,300 special derivative series such as indexes and constant dollar series are also available. Most employment series begin in 1990, although some are available from 1939 to the present. Employment by major industry sector is available from 1939.

Observations for data series are monthly in almost all cases; quarterly averages are available for total employment, average weekly hours, and average overtime hours, seasonally adjusted. Annual averages are available for all series which are not adjusted for seasonality. Earnings are measured in dollars and are stored with two decimal places. Average weekly and overtime hours are measured in hours and are stored with one decimal place. Employment is measured in thousands of workers and is stored with one decimal place for three-digit NAICS and lower-level industries; other employment data are stored with no decimal place.

Updates are usually available on the third Friday following the reporting week (week containing the 12th) in the reference month. These updates contain first estimates for the reference month, second estimates for the month preceding the reference month, and third estimates for the month two months prior to the reference month. Each year with the release of January estimates in February, CES data are re-anchored to universe counts of nonfarm employment or benchmarks for the most recent March. All not seasonally adjusted series are subject to revision back to the prior year's benchmarked data (21 months of data), while 5 years of seasonally adjusted estimates may be revised.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 2, "Employment, hours, and earnings from the establishment survey", http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch2_itc.htm.

The Current Employment Statistics survey, as a joint Federal-State undertaking, generates State and area, as well as national, statistics on employment, hours, and earnings. State agencies collect data each month from a sample of establishments in all nonagricultural activities including government. All employment, hours, and earnings series — State and area as well as national — are classified according to the 2007 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

For total payroll employment, over 18,000 series of monthly data are available, covering each State and about 310 major labor areas, most of which are Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Estimates for the total nonfarm series begin in 1939. In most cases, other industry series start with January 1990. In the largest States, up to 300 industries are reported. Expanded Supersector data is available for all States and MSAs. Most States also have detail at the NAICS sector level, with some industry detail available at the 4-digit, 5-digit, and 6-digit NAICS level.

Those industries which reflect significant economic activities are selected for publication, and data are published monthly by each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. All observations of data are monthly. Annual averages are available. Employment is measured in thousands of workers and stored with one decimal place. Earnings are measured in dollars and stored with two decimal places. Average weekly hours are measured in hours and stored with one decimal place.

Updates are usually available 10 to 12 weeks following the survey week (the week containing the 12th) in the reference month.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 2, "Employment, hours and earnings from the establishment survey", Bulletin 2285 (1988).

Labor force and unemployment estimates for States and local areas are developed by State workforce agencies to measure local labor market conditions under a Federal-State cooperative program. The Department of Labor develops the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures used by State agencies for preparation of labor force and unemployment estimates.

These estimates are derived from a variety of sources, including the Current Population Survey, the Current Employment Statistics Survey, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, various programs at the Census Bureau, and unemployment insurance claims data from the State workforce agencies. To establish uniform labor force concepts and definitions in all States and areas consistent with those used for the U.S. as a whole, monthly national estimates of employment and unemployment from the Current Population Survey are used as controls (benchmarks) for the State labor force statistics.

Monthly labor force and unemployment series are available for approximately 7,400 geographic areas, including cities over 25,000 population, counties, metropolitan areas, States, and other areas. For each area, the following estimates are presented by place of residence: total civilian labor force, total number of people employed, total number of people unemployed, and the unemployment rate. These series begin in January 1976 for statewide data, and January 1990 for most substate areas.

Data are monthly in all cases. Annual averages are available for not seasonally adjusted series. Rates are expressed as percents with one decimal place. Levels are measured as individual persons (not thousands) and are stored with no decimal places. Updates become available about two months after the reference month. Annual revisions typically update the preceding 5 years of data within two and one-half months of the end of the year.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 4 Measurement of Unemployment in States and Local Areas (http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch4.htm)

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides national estimates of rates and levels for job openings, hires, and total separations. Total separations are further broken out into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. The sample for JOLTS includes randomly selected nonfarm establishments such as factories, offices, and stores, as well as federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 16,000 establishments in the JOLTS survey are drawn from a universe of approximately eight million establishments compiled as part of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (ES-202) program.

Unadjusted counts and rates of all data elements are published by supersector and select sector based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These supersectors and select sectors include: Mining and logging; Construction; Durable goods manufacturing; Nondurable goods manufacturing; Wholesale trade; Retail trade; Transportation, warehousing, and utilities; Information; Finance and insurance; Real estate and rental and leasing; Professional and business services; Educational services; Health care and social assistance; Arts, entertainment, and recreation; Accommodation and food services; Other services; Federal government; and State and local government.

Seasonally adjusted counts and rates of job openings, hires, total separations, and quits are available for selected NAICS supersectors. Estimates are also available for four geographic regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). All data series are available from December 2000 to present on a monthly and annual basis.

BLS seasonally adjusts selected JOLTS series using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjustment program. A concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal adjustment factors are calculated each month using all relevant data up to and including the data for the current month. JOLTS uses moving averages as seasonal filters and includes both additive and multiplicative seasonal adjustment models and REGARIMA modeling to improve factors at the beginning and end of the series and to detect and adjust for outliers.

All levels are published in thousands and all rates are published in percent to one decimal place. Special characteristics of the data are footnoted where necessary. First Closing estimates are usually available four to six weeks after the end of the reference month, at which time second closing estimates for the prior month are also released. The month following the annual CES benchmark revision, all JOLTS pertinent estimates are retabulated.

The Business Employment Dynamics statistics track changes in employment at the establishment level, revealing the dynamics underlying net changes in employment. The quarterly data on Business Employment Dynamics are derived from the Covered Employment and Wages Program, also known as the ES-202 program. This program is the quarterly census of all establishments under State unemployment insurance programs, representing about 98 percent of employment on nonfarm payrolls. The data include all establishments subject to the State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and Federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Major exclusions from UI coverage are the self-employed workers, religious organizations, most agricultural workers on small farms, members of the Armed Forces and certain small nonprofit organizations.

The Business Employment Dynamics totals require that establishment data be linked across quarters. This longitudinal aspect of the data allows the tracking of when establishments open, close, and expand or contract their employees. There are four types of job flows: employment gains at opening establishments, employment expansions at existing establishments, employment losses at closing establishments, and employment contractions at existing establishments. Increases in employment at opening and expanding establishments sum to measure job gains. Declines in employment at closing and contracting establishments sum to measure job losses. The more traditional measure of net change in employment is the difference between the number of jobs gained and the number of jobs lost.

Currently, job flow estimates are available at levels and as rates for the private sector. The rates measure gross job gains and losses and their components as a percentage of the average of the previous and current quarter employment. The first release of the Business Employment Dynamics statistics covers the period from September 1992 to December 2002. Estimates are available with and without seasonal adjustments. Seasonal adjustment is run concurrently and models are updated annually.

Special characteristics of the data are footnoted where necessary. Business Employment Dynamics are updated quarterly and will be available about eight months after the end of the reference quarter. Reference quarters end in March, June, September, and December.

The Current Population Survey (CPS), frequently referred to as the household survey, is a monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible households. The CPS provides information about the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 years and over. All persons are classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force. The CPS estimates are available by various demographic characteristics, including age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and marital status. The survey is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Each month, typically during the calendar week including the 19th day, Census interviewers contact households by telephone and in person and ask questions regarding the labor market activity of household members during the previous calendar week which included the 12th day of the month. Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. There is about a 90-percent chance that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value because of sampling error.

Key definitions used in the survey: The civilian noninstitutional population includes all persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are not confined to institutions and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces. Employed persons are those who, during the survey reference week, did any work as paid civilians; worked in their own business or profession; worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family business or farm; or were temporarily absent from their jobs. Unemployed persons are those who had no employment during the survey week, were available for work, and made specific efforts to find employment in the prior 4 weeks.

The civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as employed or unemployed. The labor force participation rate represents the civilian labor force as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. The employment-population ratio represents the proportion of the population that is employed. Full-time workers usually work 35 hours or more per week; part-time workers usually work less than 35 hours per week. Persons who are not employed or unemployed are classified as not in the labor force — this group includes many who are retired, in school, or taking care of family members.

Marital status definitions: Married, spouse present, refers to husbands and wives living together in the same household. Other marital status includes persons who are never-married; married, spouse absent; separated; widowed; or divorced. Data on children refer to own children under age 18 that live in the household, including sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children. Race categories (White, Black or African American, and Asian) include only persons who selected that single race group; other categories are included in totals but not shown separately due to small sample sizes. Hispanic or Latino ethnicity refers to persons who identified themselves in the survey as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino, and may be of any race.

At present, the database has data beginning with 2009 annual averages, calculated from not seasonally adjusted monthly data. Data series for families will be added in the future.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 1, "Labor force data derived from the Current Population Survey." http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch1_a.htm. Additional technical documentation is available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a sample survey of the population 16 years of age and over. The survey is conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force, the employed, and the unemployed, classified by such characteristics as age, sex, race, family relationship, marital status, occupation, and industry attachment. The information is collected by trained interviewers from a sample of about 60,000 households located in 754 sample areas chosen to represent all counties and independent cities in the United States, with coverage in 50 States and the District of Columbia.

Earnings data are available for all workers, with data available by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, sex, occupation, usual full- or part-time status, educational attainment, and other characteristics. The earnings data are collected from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded. Most series pertain to workers who usually work full time on their sole or primary job.

Data represent earnings before taxes and other deductions, and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received. Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly (for example, annual, monthly, hourly) are converted to weekly. The term "usual" is as perceived by the respondent — if asked for a definition, interviewers define it as more than half the weeks worked during the past 4 or 5 months. Median earnings figures indicate the value that divides the earnings distribution into two equal parts. The medians shown are calculated by linear interpolation of the $50 centered interval within which each median falls. Data expressed in constant dollars are deflated by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Quarterly averages, not seasonally adjusted, are available for all series, as are annual averages. Updates are usually available with the issuance of the quarterly usual weekly earnings news release. Annual average data are available in the fourth quarter news release.

References: Employment and Earnings, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a sample survey of the population 16 years of age and over. The survey is conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force, the employed, and the unemployed, classified by such characteristics as age, sex, race, family relationship, marital status, occupation, and industry attachment. The information is collected by trained interviewers from a sample of about 60,000 households located in 754 sample areas chosen to represent all counties and independent cities in the United States, with coverage in 50 States and the District of Columbia. The data collected are based on the activity or status reported for the calendar week including the 12th of the month.

CPS data are available for the civilian, noninstitutional population age 16 and older and various detailed groups, with estimates available by age, race, sex, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, employment status, occupation, industry, class of worker, educational attainment, telework status, and other characteristics. CPS data are collected each month, and monthly estimates are presented in the Employment Situation News Release. Some data series are available as quarterly or annual averages. Data include counts (presented in thousands) and rates such as the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and employment-population ratio.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a sample survey of the population 16 years of age and over. The survey is conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides comprehensive data on the labor force, the employed, and the unemployed, classified by such characteristics as age, sex, race, family relationship, marital status, occupation, and industry attachment. The information is collected by trained interviewers from a sample of about 60,000 households located in 754 sample areas chosen to represent all counties and independent cities in the United States, with coverage in 50 States and the District of Columbia.

Union data are available for all workers — members of unions and those represented by unions — with data available by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, sex, occupation, industry, state, and full- or part-time status. Median weekly earnings data are also available for members of unions, workers represented by unions, and non-union workers, with data available by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, sex, occupation, industry, and full- or part-time status.

The union membership and earnings data are collected from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers; all self-employed workers are excluded. Earnings data are measured in weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers. Median earnings figures indicate the value that divides the earnings distribution into two equal parts, calculated by linear interpolation of the $50 centered interval within which each median falls. Data expressed in constant dollars are deflated by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Annual averages are available for all series. Updates are usually available with the issuance of the union membership news release.

References: Employment and Earnings, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Consumer Expenditure Survey collects information from the Nation's households and families on their buying habits (expenditures), income, and characteristics. The strength of the survey is that it allows data users to relate the expenditures and income of consumers to the characteristics of those consumers.

The survey consists of two components, a quarterly Interview Survey and a weekly Diary Survey, each with its own questionnaire and sample. For the Diary survey, respondents complete a diary of expenses for two consecutive 1-week periods. The Diary survey is designed to obtain data on frequently purchased items, such as food or housekeeping supplies, that respondents are less likely to recall over time. For the Interview survey, respondents report data to an interviewer. Each sample household is interviewed once per quarter, for five consecutive quarters. This survey is designed to collect data on major items of expense, such as property purchases or vehicle purchases, and those that occur on a regular basis, such as rent or utility payments, that respondents recall for 3 months or longer.

The following types of demographic data are available: average number of consumer units, percent male and female, education level, age, and race of reference person. Average annual expenditures consist of fourteen main categories: food, alcoholic beverages, housing, apparel and services, transportation, health care, entertainment, personal care products and services, reading, education, tobacco products and smoking supplies, miscellaneous, cash contributions, and personal insurance and pensions.

Average annual expenditures, income, and characteristics per consumer unit are classified by 13 characteristics: quintiles of income before taxes; income before taxes; age of reference person; size of consumer unit; composition of consumer unit; number of earners; housing tenure and type of area; race of reference person; Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person; region of residence; occupation of reference person; and education of reference person.

All data are annual averages. Average annual expenditures are reported in dollars and are stored with no decimal places. Income is reported in dollars and stored with no decimal places. Number of Consumer Units is reported in thousands and stored with no decimal places. Percent distributions are stored with no decimal places. Consumer unit characteristics are reported as averages and stored with one decimal place. Updates are done annually, usually in September.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 16, "Consumer Expenditures and Income". Link: http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch16.htm

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. The total compensation series includes changes in wages and salaries and in employer costs for employee benefits. The ECI calculates indexes of total compensation, wages and salaries, and benefits separately for all civilian workers in the United States, for private industry workers, and for workers in state and local government. The survey covers all occupations in the civilian economy, which includes the total private economy (excluding farms and households), and the public sector (excluding the Federal government).

The sample establishments are classified in industry categories based on the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Within an establishment, specific job categories are selected to represent broader occupational definitions. Since December 2013, the ECI has used the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) to classify jobs within an establishment. From March 2006 through September 2013, the ECI used the 2000 SOC to classify those jobs.

For private industry workers, data are available for total compensation costs, for wages and salaries alone, and for total benefits alone. Compensation and wage and salary change estimates are available by major occupational and industry groups, as well as by region, census division, and bargaining status. Data back to March 2001 are available for all currently published series. For State and local governments and the civilian economy (State and local governments plus private industry), wage and salary cost change and compensation cost change data are available for major occupational and industry series. The data for all these series are provided from June 1981 to present.

In March 2006, the ECI began classifying industries on the basis of the NAICS rather than the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and classifying occupations on the basis of the SOC rather than the Census of Population and Housing. Because of those changes, some ECI series were discontinued and others were introduced. A number of ECI series were deemed to be continuous. For some of those in private industry, wage and salary cost indexes and changes are available as far back as 1975, and compensation and benefit cost indexes and changes are available as far back as 1980. State and local governments and the civilian economy wage and salary, benefit, and compensation cost indexes and changes are available for major occupational and industry series back to June 1981.

In most cases, indexes, 3-month percent changes, and 12-month percent changes are available. Data are released for the reference months of March, June, September, and December. All indexes have a base period of December 2005=100. All percent changes and indexes are stored with one decimal place. Updates are available about four weeks following the end of the reference month. The continuous historical data are available only in the file on the internet at http://www.bls.gov/web/eci/ecicois.pdf.

The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) is a measure of the cost of labor. The compensation series includes wages and salaries plus employer costs for individual employee benefits. Employee benefit costs are calculated as cost-per-hour-worked for individual benefits ranging from employer payments for Social Security to paid time off for holidays.

The survey covers all occupations in the civilian economy, which includes the total private economy (excluding farms and households), and the public sector (excluding the Federal government). Statistics are published for the private and public sectors separately, and the data are combined in a measure for the civilian economy. The data are collected from a probability sample of about 44,200 occupations with 9,100 sample establishments in private industry and about 9,100 occupations within 1,400 sample establishments in State and local governments. The sample establishments are classified in industry categories based on the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Within an establishment, specific job categories are selected to represent broader occupational definitions. Jobs are classified according to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.

For private industry workers, data are available for total compensation costs, for wages and salaries alone, and for individual benefit costs alone. Data are available by major occupational and industry groups, as well as by census region, census division, and bargaining status. For State and local governments and the civilian economy (State and local governments plus private industry), data are available for major occupational and selected industry series.

Data are available on a quarterly basis. All costs per hour worked are published to the nearest cent. All percents are published to one decimal place. Updates are available about ten weeks following the end of the reference period. Reference periods are the months of March, June, September, and December.

The National Compensation Survey (NCS) is an annual survey of the incidence and provisions of selected benefits provided by employers. The survey collects data from a sample of approximately 18,000 private sector and State and local government establishments. The data are presented as a percentage of employees with access to employee benefit programs and, for some benefits, as a percentage of employees who participate in them.

The survey covers paid leave benefits such as holidays and vacations, personal, jury duty, military, family (both paid and unpaid), and sick leave; short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance; medical, dental, and vision care plans; defined benefit pension and defined contribution plans. Data are also available on quality-of-life benefits such as childcare and flexible workplace, financial benefits such as health savings accounts and Section 125 cafeteria benefits, and in recent years, common benefit combinations including medical care and paid leave combined with other benefits.

Data for the National Compensation Survey-Benefits (NB) begin with March 2010. Prior benefit surveys conducted under the Employee Benefits Survey (EB) are also available. Earlier surveys covered medium and large private establishments (1979–1989), State and local governments (1987 and even years in the 1990s), and small private establishments (even years in the 1990s). Beginning in 2007, data have been collected from establishments in the full civilian economy (private industry and State and local government combined).

Tabulations are presented for various employee and employer characteristics, such as establishment size, union and nonunion status of employees, and census division. All data are annual. All percents of workers are in whole percents; average holidays are stored with one decimal place; average employee contributions to health care benefits are stored in dollars and cents; all other averages are whole numbers. Updates are available annually, after the fall release.

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program conducts a semi-annual mail survey designed to produce estimates of employment and wages for specific occupations. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in order to produce employment and wage estimates for about 800 occupations. Data from self-employed persons are not collected and are not included in the estimates.

The OES program produces occupational estimates by geographic area and by industry. Estimates based on geographic areas are available at the National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces occupational employment and wage estimates for over 450 industry classifications at the national level. The industry classifications correspond to the sector, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industrial groups. Cross-industry estimates are available by Nation, State, and metropolitan area for about 800 occupations. Industry-specific estimates are available at the National level for over 450 industries.

Annual wage estimates are rounded to the nearest dollar and are stored with no decimal place. Hourly wage estimates are rounded to the nearest cent and are stored with two decimal places. Employment estimates are rounded to the nearest ten and are stored with no decimal place. Percent relative standard errors are rounded to the nearest tenth and stored with one decimal place. Special characteristics of the data are footnoted where necessary. The OES estimates are updated annually, normally in May.

Productivity and costs measures are published for six major sectors: Business, nonfarm business, nonfinancial corporations, total manufacturing, durable goods manufacturing, and nondurable goods manufacturing. For each sector, measures of industry analytic ratios (such as productivity and unit labor costs) are available, as well as the basic data (such as output, hours, and compensation) on which they are based.

Output data are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Reserve Board. Compensation data are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment and average weekly hours are selected from the BLS establishment survey and, where necessary for the farm sector and for the self-employed, from the BLS labor force survey. The labor input measure is then converted to the hours-at-work concept using results of a special annual survey conducted for this purpose.

There are approximately 282 Major Sector Productivity series available on the LABSTAT database. Series for business and nonfarm business begin in 1947, those for manufacturing in 1987, and those for nonfinancial corporations in 1958. Series are available quarterly and annually. Quarterly measures are based entirely on seasonally adjusted data. For some manufacturing series, only annual averages are available.

The base period for the indexes is 2005 = 100. All percent changes are calculated using index numbers rounded to three decimal places. Indexes are stored to three decimal places and percent changes are stored to one decimal place. Updates are performed near the beginning of the second and third month of each quarter, reflecting new data from the preceding quarter. All revisions to source data are reflected in the following release.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 10, "Productivity Measures: Business Sector and Major Subsectors", BLS Bulletin 2490 (April 1997). "New Sector Definitions for Productivity Series", Monthly Labor Review, October 1976, pp. 40-42. "Improvements to the Quarterly Productivity Measures", Monthly Labor Review, October 1995, pp. 27-32.

Multifactor productivity measures describe the relationship between output in real terms and the inputs involved in its production. The multifactor productivity indexes for private business and private nonfarm business are derived by dividing an output index by an index of combined inputs — labor input and capital services combined using chained superlative Tornqvist aggregation, applying weights that represent each component's share of total costs. For manufacturing, the indexes are derived by dividing an output index by a combined index of labor, capital services, energy, non-energy materials, and purchased business services.

The output index for manufacturing is computed using a chained superlative Tornqvist index of three-digit NAICS industry outputs. Industry output is measured as sectoral output — the total value of goods and services leaving the industry. Private business includes all activities measured in the national accounts with the exception of general government, the output of paid employees of private households and nonprofit institutions, the "rest of the world" sector, the gross housing product of owner-occupied dwellings, the statistical discrepancy, and government enterprises. Private nonfarm business further excludes the farm sector.

Data are obtained and derived from the following sources: Current Employment Statistics program (BLS), Current Population Survey (BLS), Work Survey (BLS), Censuses and Annual Surveys of Manufactures (Census Bureau), National Income and Product Accounts (BEA), and the Land Stock Data from the Department of Agriculture. There are 205 major sector and 848 two-digit multifactor productivity series available on the LABSTAT database.

Private Business and Private Nonfarm Business measures start in 1987, as do Manufacturing measures. Series are available on an annual basis. All indexes have a base period of 2009 = 100 and are stored to three decimal places. Updates are performed annually as data become available, with all revisions to source data reflected in the following release.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 10, "Productivity Measures: Business Sector and Major Subsectors", BLS Bulletin 2477 (1996). "Technical Information About the BLS Multifactor Productivity Measures" located at http://www.bls.gov/mfp/mprtech.pdf.

The Industry Productivity program produces annual measures of output per hour, unit labor costs, and related series for a select group of U.S. industries. Indexes and annual percent changes are available by industry for labor productivity (output per hour), output per person, real output, the implicit price deflator for output, labor hours, employment, labor compensation, and unit labor costs. Level data underlying the productivity and cost measures — including nominal value of production, labor compensation, total annual hours, and total annual employment — are also available.

Series are available on an annual basis and are therefore not seasonally adjusted. For most industries, indexes begin in 1987 and annual percent change time-series begin in 1988. The base period for the industry productivity and related indexes is 2002 = 100.

Updates are performed periodically throughout the year as source data become available. Typically, updates are announced through 3 to 4 news releases each year, with each news release covering industries in a different sector or combination of sectors, such that all industries are updated at least once a year.

Reference: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 11, "Industry Productivity Measures" (see: http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch11.htm).

Besides injury and illness counts, survey respondents are also asked to provide additional information for a subset of the most serious nonfatal cases logged — namely, those that involved at least one day away from work, beyond the day of injury or onset of illness. Employers answer several questions about these cases, including the demographics of the worker disabled, the nature of the disabling condition, and the event and source producing that condition.

Detailed breakouts of injury and illness data are available by a variety of characteristics, including age, category, event, gender, industry, length of service, nature, occupation, part of body, race, and source.

All data are annual and are reported to one decimal place. OSHS Characteristics data are published annually.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) produces comprehensive, accurate, and timely counts of fatal work injuries. CFOI is a Federal-State cooperative program that has been active in all 50 States and the District of Columbia since 1992. To compile counts that are as complete as possible, CFOI uses multiple sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal worker injuries. Information about each workplace fatal injury is obtained by cross-referencing source records, such as death certificates, workers' compensation reports, and Federal and State agency administrative reports. To ensure that fatal injuries are work-related, cases are substantiated with two or more independent source documents, or a source document and a follow-up questionnaire.

CFOI publishes detailed data on case characteristics such as the event or exposure leading to the fatal injury, the source of the fatal injury, and worker activity at the time of the incident. Event or exposure, source, and other case characteristic codes are currently based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01.

BLS also tabulates the number of fatal occupational injuries by demographic attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnic origin, and occupation. Occupation classifications are currently based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. These tabulations are also available by major industry sectors or by detailed industry based on the 2007 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

All data are annual and all figures are actual numbers of fatal injuries. Updates to the data become available approximately 8 months following the close of the reference year.

The series covers all work stoppages--strikes and lockouts--involving 1,000 workers or more and lasting one full shift or longer. The Bureau does not attempt to differentiate between strikes and lockouts. The series does not measure the indirect or secondary effect of stoppages on other establishments whose employees are idled by material shortages or lack of services. For the series, a stoppage is considered to be ended when the number of workers involved dips below 1,000.

The series presents annual data from 1947 through 1981 and annual and monthly data thereafter; it is not comparable with the one terminated in 1981 that covered stoppages involving six workers or more.

Summary Data Available: The number of stoppages beginning in the period. The number of stoppages in effect in the period, comprising those that began in the period and those that began earlier and continued into the period. The number of workers directly involved in stoppages beginning in the period. The number of workers directly involved in stoppages in effect in the period. The total number of workdays lost by workers directly involved in the stoppages in effect in the period. Total workdays lost in the stoppages in effect, as a percent of the number of workdays in the period multiplied by total national employment in the period. (Private household, forestry, and fishery employees are excluded from total national employment.)

Observations are monthly in all cases. All percent changes are stored with one decimal place.

Updates become available about 3 weeks after the end of each month. All monthly figures are preliminary until final monthly and annual figures are issued in February.

References: BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 27, "Work Stoppages", Bulletin 1910 (1976).