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1 1 (May 28, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzwi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: aCongressional ~.Research Service Disentangling the Jobs Report May 28, 2019 The Jobs Report The Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS's) monthly Employment Situation Summary-more commonly known as the jobs report-can from time to time report seemingly contradictory figures. For example, the jobs report for April 2019 reports that the unemployment rate decreased from 3.8% to 3.6%, while the employment level fell by 103,000 people. The April jobs report also includes an alternative measure of employment in which employment rose by 263,000 individuals. How can these seemingly contradictory figures be reported side by side? The explanation lies in two quirks in the jobs report: (1) the use of two different surveys in the same report, and (2) the definitions and construction of the unemployment rate. This Insight discusses both issues below. A Combination of Two Surveys First, the statistics included in the jobs report are actually the product of two different surveys: the household survey and the establishment survey. There are numerous conceptual and methodological differences between these surveys, which can produce the seemingly contradictory result of rising and falling employment in the same month. The household survey, as the name suggests, is a survey of households reflecting the entire noninstitutional population of the United States, and provides information about the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The household survey is conducted by the Census Bureau as part of its Current Population Survey. The establishment survey is a survey of private nonfarm businesses (such as factories, stores, and offices) and provides information about employment, hours worked, and employee earnings. The establishment survey is conducted by BLS as part of its Current Employment Statistics survey. Because the establishment survey surveys only nonfarm businesses, it does not include various types of workers (such as agricultural workers and unincorporated self-employed workers) that are included in the household survey. Additionally, the differences in how each survey defines employment results in individuals on unpaid leave being counted as employed in the household survey, but not in the establishment survey. Another difference in coverage between the two surveys is related to age; the household survey is limited to workers 16 and up, while the establishment survey has no limits on age. Further, due to the design of the establishment survey, individuals may be double counted if they have multiple jobs, while there is no duplication of individuals under the household survey. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11124 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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