Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Name	Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Agency	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Formed	1930s
Jurisdiction	United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is a federal program that produces county-, state-, and national-level tabulations of employment and wage data by industry each quarter. It compiles administrative records from unemployment insurance systems and publishes aggregated statistics used by agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service, and state labor market information offices. Policymakers in the White House, analysts at the Federal Reserve System, and researchers at universities including Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of Michigan rely on QCEW for benchmarking and labor market analysis.

Overview

QCEW provides near-universal coverage of covered employment by compiling employer reports submitted to state unemployment insurance programs administered under the Social Security Act and coordinated with the U.S. Department of Labor. Outputs include counts of establishments, employment, and total wages classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and by geographic units such as counties and metropolitan statistical areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Major users include federal agencies like the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Department of Agriculture, research organizations such as the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Urban Institute, and state agencies like the California Employment Development Department.

History and Development

QCEW traces its lineage to employer reporting practices established during the New Deal era under programs administered by Secretary Frances Perkins and overseen by officials connected with the Social Security Board. During World War II, agencies including the War Manpower Commission and the Office of Price Administration increased reliance on employer records. Postwar consolidation linked unemployment insurance reporting with statistical efforts of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau; key methodological shifts occurred alongside revisions to NAICS coordinated by Statistics Canada and the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Legislative and administrative milestones affecting QCEW include amendments to the Social Security Act, policy guidance from the Office of Personnel Management, and interagency agreements with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Methodology and Data Collection

QCEW compiles quarterly data from state unemployment insurance tax forms administered by state workforce agencies such as the Texas Workforce Commission, the New York State Department of Labor, and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Responses are processed and standardized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics using NAICS for industry classification and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes for geography produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Employer counts are derived from Unemployment Insurance account records; employment is measured as monthly averages of covered workers, and wages represent total payroll subject to taxes. Data processing involves deduplication routines influenced by methods used at the U.S. Census Bureau and confidentiality protections parallel to those in the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Data Products and Publication

Published QCEW products include county-level files, state summaries, and industry-by-size class tables distributed through platforms maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and mirrored by the U.S. Census Bureau and state workforce portals like the California Labor Market Information Division. Special datasets support the compilation of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics and the Current Employment Statistics programs. QCEW releases incorporate NAICS revisions and are archived to enable longitudinal research by institutions such as the National Bureau of Economic Research, think tanks like the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation, and international organizations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Uses and Policy Implications

QCEW underpins economic indicators used by the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. Treasury Department, and fiscal policy teams in the Office of Management and Budget. It informs labor market research at universities (e.g., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University), workforce development programs operated by state agencies, and urban planning by municipal governments such as the City of New York and the City of Los Angeles. QCEW data feed into employment projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational programs, eligibility assessments for programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, and analyses by advocacy organizations like the Economic Policy Institute and the American Enterprise Institute.

Limitations and Criticisms

Critics note that QCEW excludes certain categories of workers not covered by state unemployment insurance systems, such as some agricultural labor tied to seasonal visas overseen by the Department of Homeland Security and certain municipal employees whose payrolls intersect with the Office of Personnel Management. International comparisons require adjustments because countries aggregated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development use differing social insurance reporting frames. Methodological critiques from academic researchers at institutions such as University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University highlight lags in reflecting rapid employment changes, potential misclassification under NAICS, and confidentiality suppression that can limit small-area analysis used by local organizations and Congressional staff in the United States Congress.

Category:United States labor statistics