Labor Force Statistics
Related Programs
- Census Bureau Data Products
- Census Special Tabulations and Services
- Compensation and Working Conditions
- Measures and Analyses of the U.S. Economy
- Productivity and Technology Data
Examples of Funded Projects
Each State, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and Guam operated LMI Cooperative Agreements.
The Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of job seekers, wage earners and retirees by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities, protecting their retirement and health benefits and generally protecting worker rights and monitoring national economic measures.
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal year 2007 activities: Labor force survey-approximately 60,000 in monthly sample; employment, hours and earnings survey - about 390,000 establishments in the monthly sample; occupational employment and wage statistics - 400,000 establishments surveyed during the year; State and local area unemployment statistics-monthly publications for approximately 7,200 areas; data from 9.0 million establishments providing monthly employment and quarterly wages of workers covered by State unemployment insurance program; publication of new series on Business Employment Dynamics at the state level of job creation and destruction, expansions, and contractions; monthly and quarterly reporting and publication of mass layoffs and plant closings; work on the 2006-2016 projections and on the 2008-09 editions of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Career Guide to Industries, and Occupational Projections and Training Data; and monthly publication of measures of job openings and labor turnover, including hires and separations. Release 2006 time use microdata and estimates.
Uses and Use Restrictions
Provide data for: (a) employment and unemployment analysis on the current economic status of workers, based on data from households as well as employment, hours and earnings statistics collected from business establishments; (b) labor force studies, yielding information on such characteristics as educational attainment, work experience, earnings and family relationships; (c) occupational employment statistics, including wages available for a wide variety of occupations, by industry, State and metropolitan area; (d) State and local area labor force employment and unemployment data used for labor market analysis, to identify areas of high unemployment and for allocations of funds under various Federal assistance programs; (e) monthly employment and quarterly wage data (Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program) for the U.S., States, MSAs, counties, and other areas for workers covered by State unemployment insurance programs for administration of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system, major inputs to BEA's Personal Income Accounts serving as the BLS sample frame and employment benchmark, for improving Census Bureau industry codes and other purposes; (f) Business Employment Dynamics measures of job creation and destruction derived from the QCEW data; (g) monthly potential and quarterly extended mass layoff and plant closing data, including data on offshoring and outsourcing; (h) projections of the labor force, economic growth, industry employment, and occupational employment 10 years into the future; (i) monthly job openings and labor turnover (hires and separations); and (j) measures of the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.
Funds in the form of cooperative agreements are available to State Agencies designated by the Governor, usually State Workforce Agencies (SWA), for employment, hours and earnings; occupational employment statistics; local area labor force and employment; mass layoff statistics; and quarterly census of employment and wages.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
SWAs designated under Section 4 of the Wagner-Peyser Act are eligible to apply for cooperative agreement funding to operate the Current Employment Statistics (CES), Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), and Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS)programs in the States.
BLS may select an alternative applicant if a SWA declines to apply for cooperative agreement funding or otherwise substantially fails to meet BLS application and performance requirements.
Requests for technical information may be made by the general public.
Beneficiary Eligibility
General public may request information from the SWAs and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Credentials/Documentation
None.
Aplication and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
No preapplication is required.
Application packages are mailed to each SWA in late spring of each year.
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O.
12372.
Application Procedures
Draft and final applications for cooperative agreement funding are submitted to the appropriate regional office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics according to a schedule of key dates. Requests for information may be made to the nearest regional office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Award Procedures
Upon submission of an acceptable application and after negotiation of specific program deliverables and costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics awards cooperative agreement funding to the SWA.
Deadlines
Cooperative agreements which cover a given Federal fiscal year are executed prior to the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1).
Authorization
Public Laws 58-57, 62-426, 71-537, 82-203, 93-203, 93-567, 94-206, 94-311, and 94-369; 29 U.S.C. 1, 2, 2b,5, 8, 882, 1601.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Guidelines and application materials are mailed to SWA in mid-May. Initial drafts are required by early July, and final applications by August 31. The cooperative agreements are executed by mid-September, and become effective October 1.
Appeals
None.
Renewals
Each fiscal year the Bureau of Labor Statistics enters into new cooperative agreements with appropriate SWAs.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
None.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Cooperative agreement funding generally is for a single fiscal year.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
LMI Cooperative Agreement reporting requirements are based on the SWAs Cost Accounting System (CAS) reports or their Financial Accounting and Reporting System (FARS) equivalents.
CAS report 65, or FARS Report 11, is submitted monthly.
CAS reports 61, and 94B, or FARS Report 12A and 17, are submitted quarterly.
SWAs choosing not to use the CAS- or FARS- generated reports must submit the LMI Cooperative Statistics Financial Report in lieu of CAS reports 61, 65 and 94B or FARS reports 11, 12A and 17.
This report is submitted monthly for data which would appear on CAS report 65 or FARS report 11, and quarterly for CAS reports 61 and 94B, or FARS reports or 12A and 17.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003, published in Federal Register), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards shall have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.
Records
Recordkeeping is in accordance with 29 CFR 97, implementing OMB Circular A-102.
Financial Information
Account Identification
16-0200-0-1-505.
Obigations
(Salaries and Expenses) FY 07 $246,672,511; FY 08 est $242,713,000, and FY 09 est $262,170,000. (Grants) FY 07 $81,663,861; FY 08 est $86,998,000; and FY 09 est $88,463,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
The size of each cooperative agreement reflects the staff and non-personal resources required to operate the programs in a State. The range of awards in fiscal year 2007 is from $49,784 (Guam) to $7,764,357 (California). The average is $1,512,294.
Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature
"Employment and Earnings"; "Monthly Labor Review"; "Occupational Employment and Wages"; BLS Handbook of Methods"; "Major Programs of the Bureau of Labor Statistics"; "Publications of the Bureau of Labor Statistics"; "Handbook of Labor Statistics"; "Unemployment in States and Local Areas"; "Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment"; and "Employment and Wages"; Charting the Projections, 2006-16; "Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition (BLS Bulletin number to be assigned)"; "Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition (BLS Bulletin number to be assigned)"; "Occupational Projections and Training Data, 2006-07 Edition (BLS Bulletin2602)." Monthly Press Releases: "The Employment Situation"; "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment"; "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment"; "Real Earnings"; "Mass Layoffs"; and "Job Openings and Labor Turnover." Quarterly Press Releases: "County Employment and Wages", Occupational Outlook Quarterly" Business Employment Dynamics", and "Extended Mass Layoffs." Cooperative agreement application instructions, including all applicable regulations, are available from Bureau of Labor Statistics regional offices free of charge. Annual news releases on families, union membership, veterans' labor force characteristics, foreign born labor force characteristics, and volunteering.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
Contact the nearest regional office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Headquarters Office
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212. Contact: John M. Galvin, Telephone: (202) 691-6400.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Acceptable application and specific program deliverables and cost.
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