Bureau of Labor Statistics’ State and Local Area Estimates of Employment and Unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program produces state and area employment and unemployment estimates under a federal-state cooperative program. At present, monthly employment and unemployment estimates are prepared for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s), all counties, and selected subcounty areas for which data are required by legislation -- more than 5,300 areas. The Current Population Survey (CPS), conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the BLS, is the official survey instrument for measuring the labor force in the United States. The CPS sample provides direct monthly survey estimates of employment and unemployment for the nation, selected states and New York City and Los Angeles. However, the CPS sample is not sufficiently large in most states and substate areas to provide reliable monthly estimates. Therefore, methods are used to combine data from other sources with current and historical CPS sample estimates to produce monthly estimates of employment and unemployment for the remaining states, the District of Columbia, and substate areas.