CPS Publications - Employment and Earnings (publication) Articles/Explanatory Notes Page
Statistics on the employment status of the population and related data are compiled by BLS using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). This monthly survey of households is conducted for BLS by the Bureau of the Census through a scientifically selected sample designed to represent the civilian noninstitutional population. Respondents are interviewed to obtain information about the employment status of each member of the household 16 years of age and over. The inquiry relates to activity or status during the calendar week, Sunday through Saturday, which includes the 12th day of the month. This is known as the "reference week." Actual field interviewing is conducted in the following week, referred to as the "survey week."
Each month about 50,000 occupied units are eligible for interview. Some 3,200 of these households are contacted but interviews are not obtained because the occupants are not at home after repeated calls or are unavailable for other reasons. This represents a noninterview rate for the survey that ranges between 6 and 7 percent. In addition to the 50,000 occupied units, there are 9,000 sample units in an average month which are visited but found to be vacant or otherwise not eligible for enumeration. Part of the sample is changed each month. The rotation plan, as explained later, provides for three-fourths of the sample to be common from one month to the next, and one-half to be common with the same month a year earlier.
Technical notes continued: Concepts and Definitions
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