July 20 -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) invites public comment on its plan to ask OMB to renew the Current Employment Statistics (CES) data collection for 2021-23. Comments are due by September 18, 2020.
The CES program provides current monthly statistics on employment, hours, and earnings, by industry and geography. CES estimates are among the most visible and widely-used Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs). CES data are also among the timeliest of the PFEIs, with their release each month by the BLS in the Employment Situation, typically on the first Friday of each month. The statistics are fundamental inputs in economic decision processes at all levels of government, private enterprise, and organized labor.
The CES monthly estimates of employment, hours, and earnings are based on a sample of U.S. nonagricultural establishments. Information is derived from approximately 295,000 reports (from a sample of 150,000 employers with State Unemployment Insurance (UI) accounts comprised of 697,000 individual worksites), as of April 2020. Each month, firms report their employment, payroll, and hours on forms identified as the BLS-790. The sample is collected under a probability-based design. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands collect an additional 8,500 reports.
Respondents receive variations of the basic collection forms, depending on their industry. Industries include:
A--Mining and Logging
B--Construction
C--Manufacturing
E--Service Providing Industries
G--Public Administration
S—Education & Health Services
BLS is not proposing substantive changes in the CES data collection for 2021-23.
CES website:
https://www.bls.gov/ces/
FR notice inviting public comment:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/20/2020-15594/information-collection-activities-comment-request
Draft supporting statement for 2021-23:
Part A
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zstiizikxv18l3o/CES_Supporting_Statement_A_2020_07.20.20_FRN.docx?dl=0
Part B
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8qksnsnkote0njg/CES_Supporting_Statement_B_2020_07.20.20_FRN.docx?dl=0
Current CES data collection forms:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAICList?ref_nbr=202006-1220-006
Point of contact: Kirk Mueller, Current Employment Statistics Division Chief, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, BLS (202) 691-6554 mueller.kirk@dol.gov
