Bureau of Labor Statistics

The BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program

Sharon P. Brown, ChiefLocal Area Unemployment Statistics

Bureau of Labor StatisticsFederal State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates

October 6, 2004 Meeting

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• Program description

• Estimation methods

• Publication of data

• Administrative uses of data

• Use of population estimates by the LAUS program

• Upcoming changes to LAUS

The BLS LAUS Program

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The Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program

• LAUS is the cooperative Federal-State program responsible for the development of monthly estimates of the civilian labor force, total employment, and unemployment for more than 7,000 areas in the nation.

• State partners are the counterparts to the Department of Labor

• BLS is responsible for the methodology, data review, and validation. • States are responsible for producing the estimates.

• Both BLS and States publish the data.

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The LAUS Program in Brief

• Data: Civilian labor force, total employment, total unemployment, unemployment rate

• Geography: States, DC, Puerto Rico, metropolitan areas, small labor market areas, counties, cities and towns in New England, cities of 25,000+ population elsewhere

• Estimation: Model-based, with varying levels of sophistication

• Frequency: Monthly

• Uses: Economic analyses, labor market studies, Federal fund allocations

• Concepts: CPS—the official measurement of the labor force

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LAUS estimation: States and selected areas

• Current LAUS models– Are signal-plus-noise models of the unemployment

rate and employment-population ratio with CPS, non farm wage and salary employment, and population estimates as inputs

– Are seasonally adjusted externally– Use the State annual average CPS employment and

unemployment levels as benchmarks– Rely on population estimates as an independent

control – Lack published error measures

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LAUS Substate Area Estimation

• Labor Market Area – An economically integrated geographic area within which

individuals can reside and find employment within a reasonable distance or can readily change employment without changing their place of residence.

• OMB-designated metropolitan areas

• BLS-designated small labor market areas

• “Building block” approach used to the area estimation

• Labor Market Areas are controlled to the State estimates

• Counties (of multi-county areas) and cities are developed through

disaggregation

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Use of Population Estimates in the LAUS Program

• LAUS uses CNP 16+ for direct estimation, and resident pop for disaggregation

• Intercensal population controls affect CPS employment and unemployment inputs to current LAUS models

• Intercensal population controls are used in annual benchmarking to adjust current model inputs and as independent controls for employment and unemployment

• Intercensal population estimates at the county and city level are used the disaggregation methods for county and city LAUS estimates

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Publication of LAUS Estimates

• News releases and reports

– Monthly Regional and State release• Typically, two weeks after the national release

– Monthly Metropolitan Area release• Typically, one and one-half weeks later

– All area LABSTAT release• One week after met area release

– Annual Region and State release– Geographic Profile

• Annual average CPS data for States and selected areas– Special analyses, tables, maps

• Internet/website: http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm

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Administrative Uses of LAUS Data

• LAUS data are used to allocate more than $40 million in federal funds to States and areas– Department of Labor programs: Dislocated workers, youth, Job

Service and Unemployment Offices, disadvantaged workers -- $3.8 billion

– Agriculture--Food Stamp waivers--$26.4 billion– Health and Human Services programs: Welfare assistance --

$10.2 billion– Commerce/EDA public works programs -- $240 million– Preference in contracting, immigration visas, grants for financial

institutions, projects, and infrastructure in distressed communities

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LAUS Redesign: Purpose and Objectives

• Improving the quality and quantity of LAUS estimates

– Accurately reflect the labor market: The labor force estimates will incorporate the necessary decennial updates to methodology and geography.

– Accurately measure the labor force: The accuracy of the labor force estimates will be affected through improved and innovative methodology that results in smaller revisions.

– Improve our analysis of the labor force: Labor market analysis will be enhanced by the provision of measures of error and improved seasonal adjustment.

– Expand the information we have on the local labor force: ACS demographic and economic data may be useful in generating current LAUS estimates by age, race, and sex.

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LAUS Redesign Activities

• Third generation models with real-time benchmarking

• More modeled areas

• Improved operating system for model-based estimates

• Handbook improvements

• Updated geography

• Updated decennial census inputs

• Improved quality of UI data

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LAUS Redesign Models

• Third generation of LAUS models

• Bivariate models of employment and unemployment that model UI claims, CES employment, and their interaction with appropriate CPS series

• Real-time benchmarking uses monthly national CPS levels of employment and unemployment

• Provide for direct model-based seasonal adjustment

• Produce measures of error on over-the-month and over-the-year change for both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted series

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LAUS Redesign ActivitiesMore modeled areas

• Redesign Objective: The use of statistically sound modeling will improve the methodological basis of area estimates

• Criteria: – Consistent time series, no interstate areas, only one area per State– “Reasonable” CV– Relative consistency in geographic composition based on 1990 and

2000 definitions– Good model diagnostics

• Selected areas

Chicago MD Detroit MD New Orleans MACleveland MA Miami MD Seattle-Everett MD

And respective balance-of-State areas

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LAUS Redesign ActivitiesUpdated geography

• Metropolitan areas and small labor market areas will be revised, both conceptually and geographically– Revised standards, as well as demographic shifts,

will result in new geography

• Metropolitan divisions and micropolitan areas will be implemented in the LAUS program

• The updated geography will be reflected in Geographic Profiles based on geographic composition of CPS areas and area variance

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LAUS Redesign Implications for Population Estimates

• Intercensal population estimates will continue to be used to adjust LAUS model inputs

• Intercensal population estimates will continue to be used as annual benchmark controls for States

• Intercensal population controls will be needed for more areas—the 12 additional modeled areas—and more will come

• Intercensal population estimates for counties and cities will continue to be used in LAUS disaggregation

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LAUS Redesign Key Dates to Implementation

• Federal Register Notice November 8

• First box note in Region/State release November 19

• FRN comment period closed December 10

• Final Federal Register Notice January 14, 2005

• January 2005 Region and State release March 10, 2005

For more information on the LAUS Redesign , go to

http://www.bls.gov/lau/lausredesignqa.htm