Data Collection in the U.S. BLS’ CES Survey

Data Collection in the U.S. BLS’ CES Survey New Frontiers for Data Collection October 31 – November 2, 2012 Geneva, Switzerland Ken Robertson, Assistant Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics

Outline • Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey Background • A History of Data Collection in CES • Current CES Data Collection

CES Background • Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) CES survey is also known as the payroll or the establishment survey. • Each month the CES program surveys approximately 141,000 businesses representing 486,000 individual worksites. • Collection days before first release of the data varies each month, ranging from 10-16 days. • About 25% of the non-certainty businesses are rotated out-of-sample each year

Major Uses of CES Data • Economic indicator – one of the earliest available each month • These data are used to publish 4 news releases each month: 2 national, and 2 sub-national • Publish employment, hours, and earnings by industry and geography • Input to other economic series

History of CES Data Collection • 1915 – 1983 • Data were collected almost exclusively by Mail in a decentralized environment • Collection rates were typically between 40%-50% for 1st release of the data, 90% for the final • A mail shuttle form was utilized

Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing • 1984: CES CATI – testing started • 1987: Large-scale CATI test, involved 11 States, lasted 7 years, and ended with a test size of 5,500 cases • 1995: Collecting about 10,000 cases per month via CATI

Touchtone Data Entry • 1987: CES began to experiment with TDE as a way to lower collection costs compared to CATI – but to retain a higher response rate than achieved by mail

Voice Recognition • 1989 – CES briefly explored voice recognition as a data collection alternative

Electronic Data Interchange • 1995 – the BLS began to hear from larger employers, who were participating in multiple BLS surveys, that they wanted some way to reduce their cost of participation • Developed the EDI Center to work with these large multi-site businesses

FAX • 1995: BLS developed FAX collection for medium size firms. • Used for collection where CATI is too burdensome, but business is not large enough for EDI

One Point TDE • 1996: BLS developed the One-Point TDE system to take over the TDE responsibility for two states. Up to this point each state had independently maintained their own TDE system and helpdesk. • By 2004 all states transferred their TDE operations to the One Point TDE

Web • 1996: tested Web-based collection system • 1998: decided to support Web collection. • 2004 - CES started using the Internet Data Collection Facility (IDCF), a centralized service utilized for multiple BLS surveys WEB-LITE • 2004: CES decided to try a streamlined version of Web-based collection.

E-Mail & Web-FTP • 2006 – tested email collection; utilized embedded HTML that allowed respondent to access BLS website • Problems encountered because of different HTML rendering standards employed by different email clients Web-FTP • 2007: BLS began utilizing a spreadsheet data collection form that the State of West Virginia had developed for medium sized firms • Offered to respondents who have at least 5 worksites but less than 100

A New Form • 2011: Started a field test of a major redesign to the form, which had not changed significantly from the 1-page grid design since 1939 • New form is a 4-page form, printed on 11” X 17”, folded to produce four 8½” X 11” pages

Collection Form: 1915-2012

New Form - OutsideFront-introduction Back-Thank You

New Form - InsideLeft -Instructions Right-Data

History of major innovations in CES data collection • 1915 – 1983: Mail • 1984: CATI • 1987: Touchtone Data Entry (TDE) • 1989: Voice-Recognition • 1995: EDI, FAX • 1996: One-Point TDE, WEB • 2004: Web-Lite, IDCF • 2006: Email • 2007: WebFTP • 2011: New Form

Current CES Data Collection • Current Methods • Costs • Collection Rates

CES Methods: Data Collection • Current CES sample is collected through a variety of methods: CATI, Fax, TDE, Web, EDI, WebFTP • CATI yields highest response rates but is the most expensive • Providing options helps sustain response rates in a voluntary survey • Collection modes have evolved; away from mail to automated methods

CES Collection Environment • Challenging, especially for 1st preliminary: CES has 10-16 days for collection • Reference period is the pay period including the 12th • Collection begins as early as the 13th of the reference month, continues until 6:00 pm Monday, for the Employment Situation release, typically the first Friday of the month • some firms do not have payroll available until after 1st preliminary cut-off

AE Collection Rates: 1st and 3rd Closings, January 2003 to Present

CES Collection Over Time Table 1. Distribution of CES sample by collection mode over time

CES Collection Over Time Table 2. Collection rates and costs by mode, 2011 Average

Concluding Remarks • CES data collection is a very large monthly operation with critical deadlines leading to multiple news releases each month • Operations are managed centrally, and conducted in 4 Data Collection Centers, and an Electronic Data Interchange Center • Data from about 141,000 businesses representing 486,000 establishments are collected each month using various modes of collection • Transition from decentralized operations in over 50 states has resulted in substantial efficiencies

Concluding Remarks • Managing multi-modal operations is very challenging • must have highly qualified and motivated professional staff to pay attention to all the moving parts • must fix problems quickly • Must monitor distribution among modes closely to maximize response with available funding • Must continue to innovate and take advantage of new technologies – where it makes sense • To maintain high collection rates • To take advantage of new efficiencies

Ken RobertsonAssistant CommissionerIndustry Employment Statistics202-691-5440Robertson.Ken@bls.gov

Data Collection in the U.S. BLS’ CES Survey