• Data available for download
• Description of Covered Employment and Wages (ES-202) Program
• Industry Definitions
• Description of Data Available from the fishermenies Economics Data Program: data formats, variables, etc.
• Contacts and Additional Resources
• Alaska
• California
• Oregon
• Washington
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This Series Description information is available in .pdf format. To download the file CLICK HERE

Wage data from each state is a part of the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Covered Employment and Wages Program, often referred to as the ES-202 program.

The BLS Overview of the Covered Employment and Wages Program explains:

The Covered Employment and Wages Program, commonly referred to as the ES-202 program, is a cooperative program involving the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor and the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). The ES-202 program produces a comprehensive tabulation of employment and wage information for workers covered by State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and Federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Publicly available files include data on the number of establishments, monthly employment, and quarterly wages, by industry, at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) level, by county, by ownership sector, for the entire United States&

Employment data under the ES-202 program represent the number of covered workers who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period including the 12th of the month. Excluded are members of the armed forces, the self-employed, proprietors, domestic workers, unpaid family workers, and railroad workers covered by the railroad unemployment insurance system. Wages represent total compensation paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of when services were performed. Included in wages are pay for vacation and other paid leave, bonuses, stock options, tips, the cash value of meals and lodging, and in some States, contributions to deferred compensation plans (such as 401(k) plans). The ES-202 program does provide partial information on agricultural industries and employees in private households.

BLS's Covered Employment and Wages home page houses more detailed information about the program, including the full overview and answers to frequently asked questions.

See individual state wage descriptions (AK, CA, OR, WA) for notes/data explanations including interpretations of zeros.

Variable	Description	Notes
Year	Year to which data applies	-
State	State from which data originates	-
SIC	Standard Industry Classification	0912 Fisheries: Finfish 0913 fisheries: Shellfish 2077 Animal and Marine Fats and Oils 2091 Canned and Cured Fish and Seafoods 2092 Prepared Fresh or Frozen Fish and Seafoods 3556 Food Products Machinery 3731 Ship Building and Repairing 3732 Boat Building and Repairing 5142 Packaged Frozen Foods 5146 Fish and Seafoods
NAICS	North American Industry Classification System	114111 Finfish Fishing 114112 Shellfish Fishing 311613 Rendering and Meat Byproduct Processing 311710 Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging 311711 Seafood Canning (combined into 311710 for 2012 version) 311712 Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing (combined into 311710 for 2012 version) 333294 Food Product Machinery Manufacturing 336611 Ship Building and Repairing 336612 Boat Building 424420 Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers 424460 Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers
Empl_Jan	Number of workers employed in January	-
Empl_Feb	Number of workers employed in February	-
Empl_Mar	Number of workers employed in March	-
Empl_Apr	Number of workers employed in April	-
Empl_May	Number of workers employed in May	-
Empl_Jun	Number of workers employed in June	-
Empl_Jul	Number of workers employed in July	-
Empl_Aug	Number of workers employed in August	-
Empl_Sep	Number of workers employed in September	-
Empl_Oct	Number of workers employed in October	-
Empl_Nov	Number of workers employed in November	-
Empl_Dec	Number of workers employed in December	-
Empl_Q1	Total Employee-Months in Q1	Empl_Q1= Empl_jan, + Empl_feb + Empl_mar
Empl_Q2	Total Employee-Months in Quarter 2	Empl_Q2= Empl_apr + Empl_may + Empl_jun
Empl_Q3	Total Employee-Months in Quarter 3	Empl_Q3= Empl_jul + Empl_aug + Empl_sep
Empl_Q4	Total Employee-Months in Quarter 4	Empl_Q4= Empl_oct + Empl_nov + Empl_dec
Empl_Ann	Total Employee-Months in Year	Empl_Q1 + Empl_Q2 + Empl_Q3 + Empl_Q4
Earn_Q1	Total Earnings in Quarter 1	-
Earn_Q2	Total Earnings in Quarter 2	-
Earn_Q3	Total Earnings in Quarter 3	-
Earn_Q4	Total Earnings in Quarter 4	-
Earn_Ann	Total Earnings in Year	-
AEarn_Q1	Average Monthly Earnings in Quarter 1	Aearn_q1= Earn_q1/ Empl_q1
AEarn_Q2	Average Monthly Earnings in Quarter 2	Aearn_q2= Earn_q2/ Empl_q2
AEarn_Q3	Average Monthly Earnings in Quarter 3	Aearn_q3= Earn_q3/ Empl_q3
AEarn_Q4	Average Monthly Earnings in Quarter 4	Aearn_q4= Earn_q4/ Empl_q4
AEarn_An	Average Monthly Earnings in Year	Aearn_an= Earn_ann/ Empl_ann
Units_Q1	# Reporting Units in Quarter 1	Quarterly reporting units are an average of the annual units (annual units/4) for some states and set equal to Q4 units for other states...see individual state descriptions for more detail.
Units_Q2	# Reporting Units in Quarter 2
Units_Q3	# Reporting Units in Quarter 3
Units_Q4	# Reporting Units in Quarter 4

Year

Year is a four digit year to which the data applies. This information is provided directly by the states.

State

State is the state from which data originates. This information is added by the Economics Data Program.

SIC

SIC is the Standard Industry Classification. Please see Industries for a list of industries for which data are collected by the Economics Data Program. This information is provided directly by the states.

NAICS

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America. Some states have yet to switch over so both NAICS and SIC are provided.

Empl_month (i.e., Empl_jan through Empl_dec)

Empl_month gives the employment count for a given month. This information is provided directly by the states.

Following is an excerpt from the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 5 describing the employment count. The full text of this note is available in the Handbook in the BLS Information section.

Employment data represent the number of workers on the payroll during the pay period including the 12th day of the month. The pay period varies in length from employer to employer; for most employers, it is a 7-day period but not necessarily a calendar week. An employer who pays on more than one basis (such as weekly for production employees and semimonthly for office employees) reports the sum of the number of workers on each type of payroll for the period.

The employment count includes all corporation officials, executives, supervisory personnel, clerical workers, wage earners, pieceworkers, and part-time workers. Workers are reported in the State and county of the physical location of their job. Persons on paid sick leave, paid holiday, paid vacation, and so forth are included, but those on leave without pay for the entire payroll period are excluded.

Persons on the payroll of more than one firm are counted in each firm. Workers are counted even though their wages may be nontaxable for UI purposes during that period (having reached the taxable limit for the year).

The employment count excludes employees who earned no wages during the entire applicable period because of work stoppages, temporary layoffs, illness, or unpaid vacations, and employees who earned wages during the month but not during the applicable pay period.

Empl_Q1-4 and Empl_ann

Empl_Q1, Empl_Q2, Empl_Q3, Empl_Q4 and Empl_ann are totals computed by the Economics Data Program based on Empl_month data according to the formulas in the Notes section of the variable summary table.

Empl_ann is calculated regardless of whether data are missing. This means that for the most recent year, Empl_ann may not represent a true annual total. For example, assume that the most recent quarter of data available is Quarter 3. For that year, the Empl_ann = empl_q1 + empl_q2 + empl_q3 (because empl_q4 = 0).

Empl_q1-4 and empl_ann give the number of employee-months in the respective period, not necessarily the number of unique employees in that period. For example, it may be that Jane Doe worked in Jan and Feb. She would be counted as one employee in January and as one employee in February. Thus, she would account for 2 employee-months in total employment for the year, even though she is indeed only one employee.

Earn_Q1-4

Earn_Q1, Earn_Q2, Earn_Q3, and Earn_Q4 are the total quarterly earnings provided directly by the states.

Following is an excerpt from the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 5 describing earnings/total wages. The full text of this note is available in the Handbook in the BLS Information section.

Total wages, for purposes of the quarterly UI reports submitted by employers in private industry in most States, include gross wages and salaries, bonuses, stock options, tips and other gratuities, and the value of meals and lodging, where supplied. In some of the States, employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans, such as 401(k) plans, are included in total wages. Total wages, however, do not include employer contributions to Old-age, Survivors', and Disability Insurance (OASDI); health insurance; unemployment insurance; workers' compensation; and private pension and welfare funds.3

In most States, firms report the total wages paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of the timing of the services performed. Under laws of a few States, however, the employers report total wages earned during the quarter (payable) rather than actual amounts paid.

For Federal workers, wages represent the gross amount of all payrolls for all pay periods paid within the quarter. This gross amount includes cash allowances and the cash equivalent of any type of remuneration. It includes all lump-sum payments for terminal leave, withholding taxes, and retirement deductions. Federal employee remuneration generally covers the same types of services as those for workers in private industry.

Earn_Ann

Earn_Ann is a total computed by the Economics Data Program based on Earn_Q1-4 data according to the formula in the Notes section of the variable summary table.

Earn_ann is calculated regardless of whether data are missing. This means that for the most recent year, Earn_ann may not represent a true annual total. For example, assume that the most recent quarter of data available is Quarter 3. For that year, the Earn_ann = earn_q1 + earn_q2 + earn_q3 (because earn_q4 = 0).

AEarn_Q1-4 and AEarn_ann

AEarn_Q1, Aearn_Q2, Aearn_Q3, Aearn_Q4 and Aearn_ann are averages computed by the Economics Data Program based on Earn_Q1-4 and Empl_month data according to the formulas in the Notes section of the variable summary table.

Units_Q1-4

Units_Q1, Units_Q2, Units_Q3 and Units_Q4 indicate the number of reporting units or statistical entities to which the earnings and employment data apply. These data are provided directly by the states.

Following is an excerpt from the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 5 describing reporting units.

An establishment is an economic unit, such as a farm, mine, factory, or store, which produces goods or provides services. It usually is at a single physical location and engaged in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity, for which a single industrial classification may be applied. Occasionally, a single physical location encompasses two or more distinct and significant activities. Each activity should be reported as a separate establishment if separate records are kept and the various activities are classified under different 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.

Most employers have only one establishment; thus, the establishment is the predominant reporting unit or statistical entity for reporting employment and wage data. Most employers who operate more than one establishment in a State file a Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) each quarter, in addition to their quarterly UI Contribution Report. The MWR form is used to collect separate employment and wage data for each establishment of these employers. Some very small multi-establishment employers do not file a MWR. When the total employment in an employer's secondary establishments (all establishments other than the largest) is less than 10, the employer will generally file a consolidated report for all establishments. Some employers either cannot or will not report at the establishment level and thus group establishments into one consolidated unit, or possibly several units, though not at the establishment level.

As a result of these reporting rules, the number of reporting units is always larger than the number of employers (or government agencies) but smaller than the number of establishments (or installations).

ES-202 Data Contacts

The following people may be able to provide more detailed answers about data content and interpretation.

Alaska Dept of Labor, Research and Analysis Section	Debra Berggren debra.berggren@alaska.gov (907) 465-4510
California Dept of Labor Labor Market Information Division Information Services Group	John Vaughn lmid.jvaughn@edd.ca.gov (916)262-2296 (916)262-2443 FAX
Oregon Employment Department Research & Analysis Section	Ken Lux Kenneth.D.Lux@state.or.us (503) 947-1248
Washington State Employment & Training Division, Labor Market and Economic Analysis Labor Market Information	John Wines Jwines@ESD.WA.GOV (360) 438-4843 1-800-215-1617
Bureau of Labor Statistics	Eugene Becker becker_e@bls.gov

Questions about data format, file types, downloading, etc. should be directed to Curtis McLain at (503) 595-3100 or curtis_mclain@psmfc.org.

Additional Resources

BLS has suggested the following resources related to the ES-202 program:

• U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment and Wages, Annual Averages, 1995, Bulletin 2483, December 1996.
• U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Data Under the New Standard Industrial Classification, First Quarter 1988, Report 772, October 1989.
• U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. "ES-202, Operating Manual," Employment Security Manual, Part III, Sections 0400-0599, revised on a regular basis.
• U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. "Comparison of State Unemployment Insurance Laws," revised on a regular basis.

The following websites may also be useful when using ES-202 data:

• BLS Covered Employment and Wages home page
• fishermenies-related SIC definitions

Data Source

Alaska data are from the Alaska Department of Labor, Research and Analysis Section, ES-202 Unit. The contact there is Sara Verrelli who may be reached at sara_verrelli@labor.state.ak.us or at (907) 465-4500.

Comments

These data follow the format of the combined file with no exceptions.

Quarterly reporting units are supplied on a quarterly basis and are not an annual average.

As Alaska provides data on a quarterly basis, zeros in records for the most recent year of data may indicate that the data is not yet available. For example, assume that the most recent data are for Quarter 3 of 1999. Zeros in the quarter 4 variables (e.g., earn_q4, aearn_q4, empl_nov) would indicate that the data for those cells are missing. These zeros do not indicate that the data are confidential. Zeros in cells associated with data prior to and including Quarter 3, 1999 would indicate confidential data in this example.

Another result of being provided quarterly data is that totals and averages may be missing some values. In the example above, annual employment would be based upon employment counts from January through September and would NOT include employment counts for October though December. The same is applicable for total annual earnings and average annual earnings.

Data Source

California data are from the State of California, EDD - Labor Market Information Division, from the ES202 detail file. The contact there is John Vaughn who may be reached at lmid.jvaughn@edd.ca.gov or at (916) 262-2296.

Comments

These data follow the format of the combined file with no exceptions.

Quarterly reporting units are supplied on a quarterly basis and are not an annual average.

As California provides data on a quarterly basis, zeros in records for the most recent year of data may indicate that the data is not yet available. For example, assume that the most recent data are for Quarter 3 of 1999. Zeros in the quarter 4 variables (e.g., earn_q4, aearn_q4, empl_nov) would indicate that the data for those cells are missing. These zeros do not indicate that the data are confidential. Zeros in cells associated with data prior to and including Quarter 3, 1999 would indicate confidential data in this example.

Another result of being provided quarterly data is that totals and averages may be missing some values. In the example above, annual employment would be based upon employment counts from January through September and would NOT include employment counts for October though December. The same is applicable for total annual earnings and average annual earnings.

Data Source

Oregon data are from the State of Oregon, Employment Department, Research & Analysis Section. The contact there is Ken Lux who may be reached at Kenneth.D.Lux@state.or.us or by phone at (503) 947-1248.

Comments

These data follow the format of the combined file with few exceptions.

Oregon provides labor and wage information on an annual basis, NOT on a quarterly basis. You may interpret all zeros as an indication of confidential data and assume all totals are not missing any (non-confidential) data..

Oregon supplies annual reporting units, NOT quarterly reporting units. The quarterly reporting units are an average of the annual units, that is annual reporting units divided by four.

Data Source

The data are from the State of Washington, Employment & Training Division, Labor Market and Economic Analysis, Labor Market Information: Covered Employment and Payrolls in Washington State by County and Industry. Contact: John Wines who may be reached by phone at (800) 215-1617 or by email at Jwines@ESD.WA.GOV.

Comments

These data follow the format of the combined file with the following exceptions:

Reporting Units

The number of reporting units is not provided for the entire year. The State uses the number of units in the 4th Quarter for annual calculations. The number of reporting units is provided for each quarter.

Combination of Original Data Sources

The last update to this dataset was provided on September 26, 2000 and contained 1999 Quarter 4 data.

For 1995-1996 data, the fishermenies Economics Data Program was provided with data two datasets: one with the quarterly data and one with annual data. The annual data was provided on Friday 11 Dec and the quarterly data were provided on Monday 14 Dec. These two datasets have been combined into one for ease of use.  2000 data only available in annual format.  Quarter 4 values are actually annual values.

Data originally from the annual data are contained in the following variables: Year, SIC, # Empl_jan, Empl_feb, Empl_mar, Empl_apr, Empl_may, Empl_jun, Empl_jul, Empl_aug, Empl_sep, Empl_oct, Empl_nov, Empl_dec, and Earn_ann.

Data originally from the quarterly data are contained in the following variables: Year, SIC, Earn_q1,Earn_q2, Earn_q3, Earn_q4, Units_q1, Units_q2, Units_q3, and Units_q4.

Users of this data should be aware that the total quarterly earnings do NOT sum to the total annual earnings for these years. This is due to the data being extracted on different dates. John Haws suggests that the annual data are probably the more accurate of the two, given that the annual data are created after the quarterly data. However, the differences are small.

Friday, 04-Mar-2016 09:57:48 PST