TitleFAQ: Comparing CES sum-of-state and national employment
AuthorAllyson Fry, Karl Zandi
Question
Why doesn't the sum-of-state CES employment match national employment?
Answer
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that state employment data is not forced to sum to the nation, as noted below (citation, CES FAQs).
How are the data in the Current Employment Statistics Survey collected?
It should be noted that BLS estimation procedures are designed to produce accurate data for each individual state. BLS independently develops the national employment series and does not force state estimates to sum to national totals nor vice versa. Because each state series is subject to larger sampling and non-sampling errors than the national series, summing them cumulates individual state levels errors and can cause significant distortions at an aggregate level. Due to these statistical limitations, BLS does not compile a “sum of states” employment series and cautions users that such a series is subject to a relatively large and volatile error structure.
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State Employment and Unemployment