BLS Developments

Thomas J. NardoneAssociate Commissioner for Employment

StatisticsC2ER Annual Conference

June 8, 2012

The next BLS Commissioner

Will serve fixed 4-year term On Feb. 22, President nominated

Erica Groshen, NY Fed VP Senate confirmation next BLS prepared with comprehensive

briefing book

The next BLS Appropriation (FY

2013) President’s request: $618.2

million, including: $8.3M--”Built-ins” for existing

programs $1.6M--Annual CPS supplemental

survey $2.5M--CEX input to Census poverty

measure ($2.0M)--Eliminate ILC

Developments in BLS regional statistics

Current Employment Statistics (CES) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

(QCEW) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)

Other programs 2010-20 Employment Projections Green jobs surveys

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CES Developments Continue realignment of responsibility for

State and area estimates from States to BLS

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Restructuring FY 2011 budget

required production of estimates to be centralized

removed $5M from BLS budget for FY 2011

Original implementation targeted for January 2011 estimates delayed implementation until March

estimates (in April 2011) due to Continuing Resolutions 6

Restructuring Implementation was difficult

Temporarily utilized BLS staff from– State & Area group (full time)– Regional Offices (part time)– Other National Office groups (part time)

State input and cooperation was a key part of the success of the implementation

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Restructuring While BLS and States have

implemented the initiative as directed by the President’s FY 2011 Budget – we still have improvements to make Most importantly, we need to ensure

that these data are useful for all of our customers

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Data CollectionKansas City DCC Expansion

Construction begun, equipment ordered

Some interviewers started in February remainder will be hired after

construction complete Some repeat E/R offenders moved

to Permanent-CATI Reduced amount of firms rolled to

Web Keep more firms on CATI

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2011 Benchmark Aggregate Results

BLS typically discusses State revisions as of March to compare to National

Statewide TNF average absolute revision at March 2011 was 0.5 percent

MSA TNF average absolute revision at March 2011 was 1.1 percent

Statewide TNF average absolute revision at December 2011 was 0.7 percent

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2011 Benchmark Aggregate Results

Results were more dispersed on a State-by-State basis

Range of revisions was within historical norms

Some States had smaller benchmark revisions than in the past while others had larger revisions than in the past

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QCEW Developments Shortened lag between data reference period

and release to less than 6 months in 2011 4th quarter 2010 data to be released 6/30/2011 1st quarter 2011 to be released 9/29/2011

1st quarter 2011 data produced on 2012 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) basis Reduction in manufacturing detail (108 industries) 4 new alternative energy industries—solar, wind,

geothermal, biomass Reduction in retail trade industries (7 industries)

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New BED data BED data on Age and Survival (2011)

State by two digit (Feb 2012)

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QCEW Developments

Data sharing: MOU on Multi’s

Start addressing 50-year old issue BLS will start adjudicating units with

differing NAICS codes – largest units first

Will provide results to States, try to agree

Will exclude adjudicated units from ARS for 2 cycles

Will track Census use of adjudicated codes

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OES Developments More web collection—

Email and Web-lite make up about 18% More timely OES estimates

Estimates 7 weeks earlier than last year Quality improvements

Structured State operations review Providing preliminary estimates for a last

opportunity to correct or set as nonresponses questionable employer reports

COC quality initiative15

LAUS Developments Census 2010 population counts was

incorporated with data for January 2012

Implement LAUSOne system Improve State and Sub-state Area

Estimates Research use of American

Community Survey data

2010-2020 Employment Projections

Released February 5, 2012 Impact of the recession

Occupational Outlook Handbook was rewritten as a web-based publication

Revised system for classifying occupations by education, training, and experience needed published in Monthly Labor Review

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New education and training classification

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Three categories of information for each occupation: Typical education needed for entry Work experience in a related

occupation Typical on-the-job training needed

to attain competency in the occupation

■The categories make up a typical path to entry and competency

Education and training classification

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Typical entry-level educationWork experience in

a related occupationTypical OJT needed to

attain competencyDoctoral or professional

degree More than 5 years Internship/residency

Master's degree 1-5 years Apprenticeship

Bachelor's degree Less than 1 year Long-term OJT (more than 1 year)

Associate's degree None Moderate-term OJT (1 to 12 months)

Postsecondary non-degree award

Short-term OJT (less than 1 month)

Some college, no degree NoneHigh school diploma or

equivalentLess than high school

BLS green jobs initiative

Green Goods and Services (GGS) employment by industry released March 22

3.1 million green jobs in 2010, 2.4 percent of employment

State data by 2-digit industries Green Goods and Services (GGS)

occupational staffing patterns and wages Green Technology and Practices (GTP):

number of establishments using GTP; occupational employment and wages of workers spending more than half their time involved with GTP

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Contact InformationThomas J. Nardone, Associate Commissioner

202-691-6400Nardone.Tom@bls.gov