Program Overview

LAUS (Labor Area Unemployment Statistics) Methodology

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program is a federal-state cooperative effort between the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Labor and Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The LAUS Program produces monthly labor force estimates that include labor force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rates.

Estimates are available for the United States, the State of North Carolina, and several sub-state geographical areas within North Carolina. These sub-state geographical areas include: 15 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 24 Micropolitan Statistical Areas, 9 Combined Statistical Areas, 23 Workforce Development Board Areas, 8 Prosperity Zones, 100 counties, 41 cities and towns with population above 25,000, and 21 parts of cities that cross county boundaries. Additional statistical estimates including Labor Force Participation rates and Employment to Population ratios are available for the United States and the State of North Carolina. Estimates produced in the LAUS program are subject to monthly and annual revisions.

There are several different statistical methods utilized to produce the various LAUS data series. These include the signal-plus-noise models utilized for statewide estimates, the building-block approach known as the Handbook procedure utilized for counties and labor market areas, and the disaggregation procedures for cities. For additional information regarding the methods utilized in the LAUS program please see the LAUS Estimation Methodology on the BLS website. National and statewide data series on the NC Dept of Commerce website begin with January of 1976 with most other sub-state data series beginning with January of 1990. Some data series have later start dates that are dependent on population thresholds or geographical configuration changes. Earlier national data is available on the BLS website via the following link https://www.bls.gov/cps/.

Information utilized in the LAUS program include data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), unemployment insurance claims information, employment data from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Quarterly Census of Employment ant Wages (QCEW) programs.

The CPS is a monthly national survey of approximately 60,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is utilized to produce the monthly labor force statistics for the Nation. The concepts and definitions utilized in the LAUS program are the same as those utilized in the national labor force statistical series derived from the CPS. Some of the fundamental concepts are listed below.

• Estimates produced by the CPS and the LAUS program relate to individuals place of residence.
• Civilian labor force includes all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older
• Employed persons include all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the 12^th day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.
• Unemployed persons include all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4 week-period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.
• Unemployment rate is the percent of the civilian labor force that is unemployed [i.e., 100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].
• Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series. This permits easier observation and analysis of cyclical, trend, and other non-seasonal movements in the data. By eliminating seasonal fluctuations, the series becomes smoother, and it is easier to compare data from month to month.

For more information regarding the LAUS program including additional data series please see the Bureau of Labor Statistics website https://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm. For more information regarding the CPS, see the Current Population Survey program homepage.