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LMI FAQs

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LMI Publications

What is the difference between residence and establishment based data?

Residence based data relates to an individual's county of residence or where they reside; establishment based data relates to the county where their employer is located or where they work.

Why can't the LMI Department release certain information?

In our grant with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) we are under a confidentiality agreement which prevents us from publishing or releasing any data that would reveal the identity of any participant in a statistical program operated by BLS

When are unemployment rates published?

Click the link to see the LMI Monthly Release Schedule.

How do you decide which areas to publish?

The areas published are determined by the program, certain programs can only be produced at the State and/or Metropolitan Statistical Area level due to the size of the program's survey

What is seasonal adjustment?

Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique which eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series. This permits easier analysis of cyclical, trend, and other nonseasonal movements in the data. By eliminating seasonal fluctuations, the series becomes smoother and it is easier to compare data from month to month.

Is there a measure of underemployment?

Because of the difficulty of developing an objective set of criteria which could be readily used in a monthly household survey, no official government statistics are available on the total number of persons who might be viewed as underemployed. Even if many or most could be identified, it would still be difficult to quantify the loss to the economy of such underemployment.

Who is counted as employed?

Not all of the wide range of job situations in the American economy fit neatly into a given category. For example, people are considered employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit during the survey week. This includes all part-time and temporary work, as well as regular full-time year-round employment. Persons also are counted as employed if they have a job at which they did not work during the survey week because they were:

  • On vacation
  • Experiencing child-care problems
  • Taking care of some other family or personal obligation
  • On maternity or paternity leave
  • Involved in an industrial dispute
  • Prevented from working by bad weather

Who is counted as unemployed?

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

What is the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.

What does the term "benchmarked" mean?

The term "benchmarked" (in the LAUS program) refers to forcing the monthly statewide model-based estimates to population controlled Current Population Survey annual average estimates. Substate estimates are then revised and forced to add to the new state estimates. As part of the process, any changes in the inputs, such as revision in the Current Employment Statistics-based employment figures or unemployment insurance claims counts, and updated historical relationships, are incorporated.

What is the Current Population Survey (CPS)?

The CPS is a monthly sample survey of approximately 50,000 households (nationally) conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the source of much key labor market data, including the U.S. unemployment rate.