Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours

Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours
Name	Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours
Country	United States
Agency	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Formed	1939
Frequency	Quarterly
Sample size	~6,000 establishments
Topics	Employment; Payroll; Hours; Industry

Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours

The Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours is a recurring statistical program conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and administered in collaboration with agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Labor (United States), the Office of Management and Budget, and state labor agencies including the California Employment Development Department and the New York State Department of Labor. It provides time series used by analysts at institutions like the Federal Reserve Board, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and private firms including Goldman Sachs, Moody's Analytics, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley.

Overview

The survey produces estimates of payroll employment, average weekly payroll, and average weekly hours across industries and regions, informing policymakers in bodies such as the United States Congress and executive offices including the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers. Its outputs are cited by research organizations like the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Economic Policy Institute for labor market analysis and by media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, and Reuters.

Methodology and Scope

Design principles draw on survey methods developed by scholars at Harvard University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and statistical standards from the International Labour Organization. Sampling frames reference business registers from the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and state unemployment insurance systems like those in Texas and Florida. The stratified sample covers industries as defined in the North American Industry Classification System and geographic areas aligned with Metropolitan Statistical Area delineations used by the Office of Management and Budget. Methodological oversight has involved committees with members from American Statistical Association, the Royal Statistical Society, and academic centers such as the University of Chicago and Yale University.

Data Elements and Definitions

Primary variables include total payroll, number of employees on payroll, average weekly hours, and overtime hours, defined in accordance with standards from the Fair Labor Standards Act and reporting conventions used by enterprises like Walmart, General Motors, Amazon (company), ExxonMobil, and AT&T. Industry classifications reference the North American Industry Classification System codes; geographic indicators use Metropolitan Statistical Area and state identifiers including California, New York (state), Texas, and Illinois. Data users cross-tabulate these elements with external series such as the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, the Employment Cost Index, and payroll tax records from the Internal Revenue Service.

Collection and Processing

Data are collected via mailed questionnaires, electronic reporting systems developed in partnership with vendors used by firms like ADP, Paychex, and Intuit (company), and administrative records from the Social Security Administration and state unemployment insurance programs. Processing pipelines employ methods validated in studies at Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, and Northwestern University using statistical software comparable to tools from SAS Institute, R Project for Statistical Computing, and StataCorp. Confidentiality protocols follow standards from the Privacy Act of 1974 and guidance by the National Institute of Standards and Technology; data disclosure avoidance techniques echo approaches discussed at the National Academy of Sciences.

Uses and Applications

Estimates feed into macroeconomic models used by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and international forecasting teams at the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. Labor market researchers at institutions including the RAND Corporation, the Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and the Pew Research Center use the series for studies on automation tied to firms like Tesla, Inc. and Siemens, for sectoral shifts linked to NAFTA and USMCA negotiations, and for regional analysis relevant to metropolitan plans from offices such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) and the Metropolitan Council (Minnesota). Journalists from Bloomberg L.P., NPR, BBC News, and CNN reference the survey in reporting on labor trends.

Limitations and Accuracy

Limitations include sampling error, nonresponse bias, and misclassification, which are topics addressed in methodological literature from American Economic Association journals and technical reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Coverage gaps affect analysis of small establishments and informal employment often explored in studies by International Labour Organization country reports and research by World Bank labor teams. Revisions and benchmarking procedures relate to benchmarks produced from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and are evaluated in reviews by committees convened at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and academic workshops at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Kennedy School.

Category:Surveys