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See also capital stock and capital services.
Increases in the capital-to-hours ratio reflect increases in the intensity of capital used in the production process.
See also capital services.
See also capital services.
Unlike the situation with labor services, which are rented explicitly with wages, the owner and user of capital services are usually the same. Capital goods are typically bought in one period and then used in future periods. Therefore, they must be measured implicitly.
See capital stock.
For each year worked, employees are credited with a specified contribution and a rate of interest on that contribution, which together will provide a lump sum at retirement. The lump sum may be converted to an annuity.
See the article, "Cash balance pension plans: The new wave."
For information on Census regions, see the BLS interactive geographic regions map.
The benefits of chaining over a fixed base include a better reflection of (1) changing economic conditions, (2) technological progress, and (3) spending patterns, as well as a suitable means for handling items that are not traded every month in which the index is calculated. For example, see the video on the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI).
See the video, “Understanding the Chained Consumer Price Index.”
"Documentation of combination jobs require a primary Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and the documentation of a secondary SOC code."
For more information on how combination jobs are classified, see the ORS collection manual.
"“Total compensation” usually refers to the entire range of wages and benefits employees receive for their work."
See the video, "What is the Employment Cost Index?"
More information can be found on the Current Population Survey's Labor force characteristics page under the heading, "Contingent and alternative employment arrangements."
See the video, “What types of work are contingent or alternative employment arrangements?”
See the video, “How the Producer Price Index is used for contract adjustment.”
For more information, see question 9 of the CPI FAQs.
See the video, “Understanding the Chained Consumer Price Index.”
County is the primary local geographic area for an establishment in the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The county is determined by the physical location of the establishment. In Louisiana, the term “parish” is used instead of “county.”
For example, see the QCEW state and county map of Florida.
A stoppage often occurs over a period of months.
See also work stoppage.
See the video, "Worker safety data."
See also work stoppage.
See the video, "Worker safety data."
See also disability retirement.
See also wealth stock.
Discouraged workers are a subset of those who are marginally attached to the labor force. Discouraged workers include people who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for reasons such as “thinks no work available,” “could not find work,” “lacks schooling or training,” “employer thinks too young or old,” and other types of discrimination. (See table A-16 in “The Employment Situation” news release.)
More information can be found on the Current Population Survey's Labor force characteristics page under the heading, "Discouraged workers."
The Census Divisions are New England, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, East North Central, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific. See the census regions and divisions map of the United States.
For information on Census regions, see the BLS interactive geographic regions map.
For those on layoff who are counted as unemployed, the duration of unemployment represents the number of full weeks (through the reference week) that they have been on layoff. The data do not represent completed spells of unemployment.
See also unemployed.
Field tests are typically larger than pilot tests and are set exclusively in the field, using trained interviewers and respondents from the target survey population.
See also pilot test.
Because prices for food and energy, and margins for trade services, tend to be erratic, some economists have come to focus attention on indexes that measure price changes for final demand to the exclusion of food, energy, and trade components as clearer measures of what is sometimes referred to as the underlying rate of inflation. This index is typically referred to as the PPI for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services.
See also inflation.
See the Producer Price Index video.
See also establishment.
For example, in the BLS Employment Projections program, growth rate adjectives used in the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) are defined by the following percent changes for the 2016–26 employment projections: much faster than the average = 15 percent or more, faster than the average = 10 percent to 14 percent, as fast as the average = 5 percent to 9 percent, slower than the average = 2 percent to 4 percent, little or no change = –1 percent to 1 percent, and decline = –2 percent or more.
See the video Understanding BLS employment.
"Some examples of jobs in which heavy vibration is an issue include operating a jackhammer, a bulldozer, or a printing press."
For more information on heavy vibration, see the ORS collection manual.
The housing unit may be a house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room, as long as it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters.
See household data taken from Employment and earnings, February 2006.
For the Consumer Expenditure survey, income includes all consumer unit members (14 years of age or older) during the 12 months preceding the interview. Income and earnings are two distinct concepts, although there are some similarities between them.
For more information about income and personal taxes, see the Consumer Expenditure Surveys glossary: Personal income and taxes.
See also the Comparison matrix of BLS compensation data sources.
See also earnings.
BLS uses several indexes to gauge certain economic trends. Examples include the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and Employer Cost Index (ECI).
See also base period.
Establishments are classified by industry with the use of an industrial classification system such as the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
See also NAICS.
When inflation occurs, the purchasing power of money declines. For example, if the inflation rate is 2 percent annually, then, theoretically, a $1 basket of apples will cost $1.02 in a year.
See contract escalation.
Calculated as (N/EH) ´ 200,000, where N = number of injuries and/or illnesses, EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year, and 200,000 = base for 100 full-time equivalent workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).
See the video, "Worker safety data."
An injury or illness is considered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to be work related if the criteria stated in the definition are met.
See the video, "Worker safety data."
See the video, "Introduction to the Producer Price Index."
The Final Demand–Intermediate Demand system includes two parallel treatments of intermediate demand. The first treatment organizes intermediate demand commodities by type and is composed of three main price indexes: processed and unprocessed goods for intermediate demand, services for intermediate demand, and intermediate demand construction. The second treatment organizes intermediate demand commodities into production stages, with the explicit goal of developing a forward-flow model of production and price change.
See the video, “Introduction to the Producer Price Index.”
Item nonresponse is a source of nonsampling error.
See imputation.
For more information on individual demands, see the ORS Visual Overview for Physical Demands Data Element.
See Occupational Requirements Survey: Visual overview for physical demands data elements.
Private industry employees include most corporate officials, all executives, all supervisory personnel, all professionals, all clerical workers, many farmworkers, all wage earners, all pieceworkers, and all part-time workers. Workers on paid sick leave, paid holiday, paid vacation, and the like also are covered. Workers on the payroll of more than one firm during the period are counted by each employer that is subject to unemployment insurance (UI), as long as those workers satisfy the preceding definition of employment.
See also employment.
For example, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program uses quality adjustment.
For an example of quality adjustment, see Quality adjustment in the CPI.
See urban population.
For more information, see the Consumer Expenditure Surveys glossary: Metropolitan statistical areas.
See sample.
See also census regions.
For information on census regions, see the BLS interactive geographic regions map.
All workers are classified into 1 of more than 800 occupations according to their occupational definition. For facilitating classification, occupations are combined to form 23 major groups, 96 minor groups, and 449 broad occupations. Each broad occupation includes detailed occupations requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience.
For more information about the Standard Classification system, see the Standard Occupational Classification homepage.
Stooping can occur in a seated position, although it occurs most often while standing.
For more information, please see the Occupational Requirements Survey: Visual overview for physical demands data elements.
The takeup rate is one of three measures used to examine the incidence of benefits. The other two measures are access and participation.
See also benefit incidence.
See video, What is the Employment Cost Index?
See also metropolitan statistical area and NECTAs.
People who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not be looking for work to be classified as unemployed.
For the 2010 census, the Census Bureau redefined the classification of urban areas to “a densely settled core of census tracts and/or census blocks that meet minimum population density requirements, along with adjacent territory containing nonresidential urban land uses as well as territory with low population density included to link outlying densely settled territory with the densely settled core.”
See also rural population.
For an example of quality adjustment, see Quality adjustment in the CPI.
Nonveterans never served on Active Duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. Veterans could have served anywhere in the world during the following periods of service: Gulf war era II (September 2001–present), Gulf war era I (August 1990–August 2001), Vietnam era (August 1964–April 1975), Korean war (July 1950–January 1955), World War II (December 1941–December 1946), and other service periods (all other periods). Veterans who served in more than one wartime period are classified into only the most recent one. Veterans who served during one of the selected wartime periods and another period are classified into only the wartime period.
Wage and salary workers include employees in both the private and public sector. Union membership data and earnings data exclude all self-employed workers, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses. “Wage and salary” is the worker’s hourly straight-time wage rate or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours worked. Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses such as lump-sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases.
To find information on pay and benefits, see the "Comparison matrix of BLS compensation data sources."
The employee’s base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips are included. Excluded are overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer costs for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimbursements. See https://www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#def (section D, question 3).
To find information on pay and benefits, see the "Comparison matrix of BLS compensation data sources."
To find information on pay and benefits, see the "Comparison matrix of BLS compensation data sources."
"Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses such as lump-sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases. However, the NCS does include production bonuses and commissions in wages and salaries.
See the National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods concepts section for additional information on wages and salaries.
For example, sample weights are applied to Consumer Expenditure microdata to estimate total expenditures for an entire year.
See also reweighting.
See also Census regions.
For information on Census regions, see the BLS interactive geographic regions map.