Comparing Metro Phoenix
Employment
Description: The employment data are obtained from individual states that collect the data under contract with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data come from a monthly survey of firms.
Rationale: The majority of people who move to a different state do so for job-related reasons. One of the most significant considerations for a business considering relocation or expansion is workforce availability.
Data Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/sae/home.htm.
Comments on the Quality of the Data: Benchmark revisions can be significant, particularly when the economy is expanding or contracting rapidly. The data come from a monthly survey of firms in a report that tabulates “jobs” rather than employment. Thus, if one individual held two jobs simultaneously he/she would be counted twice in the survey.
The employment data are derived from a survey of employers and are subject to survey error. The Current Employment Survey data (published by BLS) exclude certain activities, particularly farms, and are limited to wage and salary workers. The main advantage of this series is its timeliness — data are released monthly three weeks after the end of the month. The initial estimates may be substantially revised, and more comprehensive annual data are available from the Census of Employment and Wages and from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
