Important
Important

This specification is draft. Feedback is welcome. Please write us at lars.vilhuber@census.gov.

1. Purpose

The public-use data from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program, including the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) and Job-to-Job Flows (J2J), are available for download with the following data schema. These data are available as Comma-Separated Value (CSV) files through the LEHD website’s Data page at http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/ and through LED Extraction Tool at http://ledextract.ces.census.gov/.

This document describes the data schema for LEHD files. For each variable, a set of allowable values is defined. Definitions are provided as CSV files, with header variable definitions. Changes relative to the original v4.0 version are listed at the end.

2. File naming

The naming conventions of the data files is documented in lehd_csv_naming.html.

3. Replaces

This version replaces v4.0. Any file compliant with LEHD or QWI Schema v4.0 will also be compliant with this schema, but some changes may have been applied to auxiliary data.

4. Basic Schema

Each file is structured as a CSV file. The first columns contain [identifiers], subsequent columns contain [indicators], followed by status flags.

4.1. Generic structure

Column name

[ Identifier1 ]

[ Identifier2 ]

[ Identifier3 ]

[ … ]

[ Indicator 1 ]

[ Indicator 2 ]

[ Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Status Flag 1 ]

[ Status Flag 2 ]

[ Status Flag 3 ]

[ … ]

Note: A full list of indicators for each type of file are shown below in the Indicators section. While all indicators are included in the CSV files, only the requested indicators will be included in data outputs from the LED Extraction Tool.

4.2. Identifiers

Records, unless otherwise noted, are parts of time-series data. Unique record identifiers are noted below, by file type. Identifiers without the year and quarter component can be considered a series identifier.

4.2.1. Mapping for Identifiers

Each of the released files has a set of variables uniquely identifying records (Identifiers). The table below relates the set of identifier specifications to the released files. The actual CSV files containing the identifiers for each set are listed after this table. Each identifier can take on a specified list of values, documented in the section on Categorical Variables.

identifiers QWI NQWI J2J J2JR J2JOD LODES

lehd_identifiers_qwi

1

1

lehd_identifiers_j2j

1

1

lehd_identifiers_j2jod

1

4.2.2. Identifiers for j2j

Variable Type label

periodicity

Char(1)

Periodicity of report

seasonadj

Char(1)

Seasonal Adjustment Indicator

geo_level

Char(1)

Group: Geographic level of aggregation

geography

Char(8)

Group: Geography code

ind_level

Char(1)

Group: Industry level of aggregation

industry

Char(5)

Group: Industry code

ownercode

Char(3)

Group: Ownership group code

sex

Char(1)

Group: Gender code

agegrp

Char(3)

Group: Age group code (WIA)

race

Char(2)

Group: race

ethnicity

Char(2)

Group: ethnicity

education

Char(2)

Group: education

firmage

Char(1)

Group: Firm Age group

firmsize

Char(1)

Group: Firm Size group

year

Num

Time: Year

quarter

Num

Time: Quarter

agg_level

Num

Aggregation Level Indicator

4.2.3. Identifiers for j2jod

Variable Type label

periodicity

Char(1)

Periodicity of report

seasonadj

Char(1)

Seasonal Adjustment Indicator

geo_level

Char(1)

Group: Geographic level of aggregation of destination job

geography

Char(8)

Group: Geography code of destination job

ind_level

Char(1)

Group: Industry level of aggregation of destination job

industry

Char(5)

Group: Industry code of destination job

ownercode

Char(3)

Group: Ownership group code of destination job

sex

Char(1)

Group: Gender code

agegrp

Char(3)

Group: Age group code (WIA)

race

Char(2)

Group: race

ethnicity

Char(2)

Group: ethnicity

education

Char(2)

Group: education

firmage

Char(1)

Group: Firm Age group

firmsize

Char(1)

Group: Firm Size group

year

Num

Time: Year

quarter

Num

Time: Quarter

agg_level

Num

Aggregation Level Indicator

geo_level_orig

Char(1)

Group: Geographic level of aggregation of origin job

geography_orig

Char(8)

Group: Geography code of origin job

ind_level_orig

Char(1)

Group: Industry level of aggregation of origin job

industry_orig

Char(5)

Group: Industry code of origin job

ownercode_orig

Char(3)

Group: Ownership group code of origin job

firmage_orig

Char(1)

Group: Firm Age group of origin job

firmsize_orig

Char(1)

Group: Firm Size group of origin job

4.2.4. Identifiers for qwi

Variable Type label

periodicity

Char(1)

Periodicity of report

seasonadj

Char(1)

Seasonal Adjustment Indicator

geo_level

Char(1)

Group: Geographic level of aggregation

geography

Char(8)

Group: Geography code

ind_level

Char(1)

Group: Industry level of aggregation

industry

Char(5)

Group: Industry code

ownercode

Char(3)

Group: Ownership group code

sex

Char(1)

Group: Gender code

agegrp

Char(3)

Group: Age group code (WIA)

race

Char(2)

Group: race

ethnicity

Char(2)

Group: ethnicity

education

Char(2)

Group: education

firmage

Char(1)

Group: Firm Age group

firmsize

Char(1)

Group: Firm Size group

year

Num

Time: Year

quarter

Num

Time: Quarter

4.3. Indicators

The following tables and associated mapping files list the indicators available on each file. The 'Indicator Variable' is the short name of the variable on the CSV files, suitable for machine processing in a wide variety of statistical applications. When given, the 'Alternate name' may appear in related documentation and articles. The 'Status Flag' is used to indicate publication or data quality status (see Status Flags). The 'Indicator Name' is a more verbose description of the indicator.

4.3.1. National QWI and state-level QWI (QWIPU)

Indicator Variable Alternate name Status Flag Indicator Name Units

Emp

B

sEmp

Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

EmpEnd

E

sEmpEnd

End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

EmpS

F

sEmpS

Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

EmpSpv

Fpv

sEmpSpv

Full-Quarter Employment in the Previous Quarter

Count

EmpTotal

M

sEmpTotal

Employment - Reference Quarter

Count

HirA

A

sHirA

Hires (All Accessions)

Count

HirN

H

sHirN

New Hires

Count

HirR

R

sHirR

Recall Hires

Count

Sep

S

sSep

Separations (All)

Count

HirAEnd

CA

sHirAEnd

End-of-Quarter Hires

Count

HirAEndR

CAR

sHirAEndR

End-of-Quarter Hiring Rate

Rate

SepBeg

CS

sSepBeg

Beginning-of-Quarter Separations

Count

SepBegR

CSR

sSepBegR

Beginning-of-Quarter Separation Rate

Rate

HirAS

FA

sHirAS

Hires (All Hires into Full-Quarter Employment)

Count

HirNS

FH

sHirNS

New Hires (New Hires into Full-Quarter Employment)

Count

SepS

FS

sSepS

Separations (Flows out of Full-Quarter Employment)

Count

SepSnx

FSnx

sSepSnx

Separations in the Next Quarter (Flows out of Full-Quarter Employment)

Count

TurnOvrS

FT

sTurnOvrS

Turnover (Stable)

Rate

FrmJbGn

JC

sFrmJbGn

Firm Job Gains (Job Creation)

Count

FrmJbLs

JD

sFrmJbLs

Firm Job Loss (Job Destruction)

Count

FrmJbC

JF

sFrmJbC

Firm Job Change (Net Change)

Count

HirAEndRepl

EI

sHirAEndRepl

Replacement Hires

Count

HirAEndReplr

EIR

sHirAEndReplr

Replacement Hiring Rate

Rate

FrmJbGnS

FJC

sFrmJbGnS

Firm Job Gains (Stable)

Count

FrmJbLsS

FJD

sFrmJbLsS

Firm Job Loss (Stable)

Count

FrmJbCS

FJF

sFrmJbCS

Firm Job Change (Stable; Net Change)

Count

EarnS

ZW3

sEarnS

Average Monthly Earnings (Full-Quarter Employment)

Dollars

EarnBeg

ZW1

sEarnBeg

Average Monthly Earnings (Beginning-of-Quarter Employment)

Dollars

EarnHirAS

ZWFA

sEarnHirAS

Average Monthly Earnings (All Hires into Full-Quarter Employment)

Dollars

EarnHirNS

ZWFH

sEarnHirNS

Average Monthly Earnings (New Hires into Full-Quarter Employment)

Dollars

EarnSepS

ZWFS

sEarnSepS

Average Monthly Earnings (Flows out of Full-Quarter Employment)

Dollars

Payroll

W1

sPayroll

Total Quarterly Payroll

Dollars

4.3.2. National QWI and state-level QWI rates (QWIPUR)

Rates are computed from published data, and are provided as a convenience. The column Base indicates the denominator used to compute the rate.

Indicator Variable Alternate name Status Flag Indicator Name Units Base

HirAR

AR

sHirAR

Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

HirNR

HR

sHirNR

New Hiring Rate

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

HirRR

RR

sHirRR

Recall Rate

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

SepR

SR

sSepR

Separation Rate (All Separations)

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

HirAEndR

CAR

sHirAEndR

End-of-Quarter Hiring Rate

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

SepBegR

CSR

sSepBegR

Beginning-of-Quarter Separation Rate

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

HirAsR

FAR

sHirAsR

Hiring Rate (Flows into Full-Quarter Employment)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

HirNsR

FHR

sHirNsR

New Hiring Rate (New Hires to Full-Quarter Status)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

SepSR

FSR

sSepSR

Separation Rate (Flows out of Full-Quarter Employment)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

SepSnxR

FSnxR

sSepSnxR

Separation Rate in the Next Quarter (Flow out of Full-Quarter Employment)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

TurnOvrSR

FTR

sTurnOvrSR

Turnover Rate (Stable)

Rate

2*EmpS

FrmJbGnR

JCR

sFrmJbGnR

Firm Job Gain Rate (Job Creation Rate)

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

FrmJbLsR

JDR

sFrmJbLsR

Firm Job Loss Rate (Job Destruction Rate)

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

FrmJbCR

JFR

sFrmJbCR

Firm Job Change Rate (Net Change Rate)

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

HirAEndReplR

EIR

sHirAEndReplR

Replacement Hiring Rate

Rate

(Emp + EmpEnd)/2

FrmJbGnSR

FJCR

sFrmJbGnSR

Firm Job Gain Rate (Stable)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

FrmJbLsSR

FJDR

sFrmJbLsSR

Firm Job Loss Rate (Stable)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

FrmJbCSR

FJFR

sFrmJbCSR

Firm Job Change Rate (Stable; Net Change Rate)

Rate

(EmpSpv + EmpS)/2

4.3.3. Job-to-job flow counts (J2J)

Indicator Variable Alternate name Status Flag Indicator Name

MHire

all_doma2

sMHire

Main Job Accessions - Counts

MSep

all_doms2

sMSep

Main Job Separations - Counts

MJobStart

all_dest

sMJobStart

Main Job Starts - Counts (hires + main source of earnings changes)

MJobEnd

all_orig

sMJobEnd

Main Job Ends - Counts (separations + main source of earnings changes)

EEHire

ee_doma2

sEEHire

EE Accessions - Counts

EESep

ee_doms2

sEESep

EE Separations - Counts

AQHire

aq_doma2

sAQHire

AQ Accessions - Short Duration Nonemployment Spell - Counts

AQSep

aq_doms2

sAQSep

AQ Separations - Short Duration Nonemployment Spell - Counts

J2JHire

eeall_doma2

sJ2JHire

Job-to-Job Accessions - Counts

J2JSep

eeall_doms2

sJ2JSep

Job-to-Job Separations - Counts

NEHire

ne_doma2

sNEHire

Main Job Accessions - Any Nonemployment Spell - Counts

ENSep

en_doms2

sENSep

Main Job Separations - Any Nonemployment Spell - Counts

NEPersist

ne2_doma2

sNEPersist

Main Job Accessions - Persistent Nonemployment Spell - Counts

ENPersist

en2_doms2

sENPersist

Main Job Separations - Persistent Nonemployment Spell - Counts

NEFullQ

ne2p_doma2

sNEFullQ

Main Job Accessions - Full-qtr Nonemployment Spell - Counts

ENFullQ

en2p_doms2

sENFullQ

Main Job Separations - Full-qtr Nonemployment Spell - Counts

MainB

domB

sMainB

Main Job - Beginning of Quarter - Counts

MainE

domE

sMainE

Main Job - End of Quarter - Counts

4.3.4. Job-to-job flow rates (J2JR)

Rates are computed from published data, and are provided as a convenience. The column Base indicates the denominator used to compute the rate.

Indicator Variable Alternate name Status Flag Indicator Name Base

MHireR

all_doma2_rate

sMHireR

Main Job Accessions - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

MSepR

all_doms2_rate

sMSepR

Main Job Separations - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

MJobStartR

all_dest_rate

sMJobStartRate

Main Job Starts - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

MJobEndR

all_orgin_rate

sMJobEndRate

Main Job Ends - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

EEHireR

eea_rate

sEEHireRate

EE Accessions - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

EESepR

ees_rate

sEESepR

EE Separations - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

AQHireR

aq_doma2_rate

sAQHireR

AQ Accessions - Short Duration Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

AQSepR

aq_doms2_rate

sAQSepR

AQ Separations - Short Duration Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

J2JHireR

eeall_doma2_rate

sJ2JHireR

Job-to-Job Accessions - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

J2JSepR

eeall_doms2_rate

sJ2JSepR

Job-to-Job Separations - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

NEHireR

ne_doma2_rate

sNEHireR

Main Job Accessions - Any Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

ENSepR

en_doms2_rate

sENSepR

Main Job Separations - Any Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

NEPersistR

ne2_doma2_rate

sNEPersistR

Main Job Accessions - Persistent Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

ENPersistR

en2_doms2_rate

sENPersistR

Main Job Separations - Persistent Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

NEFullQR

ne2p_doma2_rate

sNEFullQR

Main Job Accessions - Full-qtr Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

ENFullQR

en2p_doms2_rate

sENFullQR

Main Job Separations - Full-qtr Nonemployment Spell - Rate

(MainB+MainE)/2

4.3.5. Job-to-job flow Origin-Destination (J2JOD)

Indicator Variable Alternate name Status Flag Indicator Name

EE

ee

sEE

Direct Job Flows - Counts

AQHire

aq_doma2

sAQHire

Main Job Accessions - Short Nonemployment Spell - Counts

EEFullQ

fee

sEEFullQ

Stable Job to Stable Job Direct Flows - Counts

AQFullQHire

faq_doma2

sAQFullQHire

Stable Job Accessions From Stable Jobs - Short Nonemployment Spell Between Jobs - Counts

4.4. Variability measures

The following tables and associated mapping files list the variability measures available on each file. The 'Variability Measure' is the short name of the variable on the CSV files, suitable for machine processing in a wide variety of statistical applications. When given, the 'Alternate Name' may appear in related documentation and articles. The 'Variable Name' is a more verbose description of the variability measure.

Six variability measures are published:

  • Total variability, prefixed by vt_

  • Standard error, prefixed by st_, and computed as the square root of Total Variability

  • Between-implicate variability, prefixed by vb_

  • Average within-implicate variability, prefixed by vw_

  • Degrees of freedom, prefixed by df_

  • Missingness ratio, prefixed by mr_

A missing variability measure indicates a structural zero in the corresponding indicator. This is currently not associated with a flag.

4.4.1. Generic structure

Column name

[ Identifier1 ]

[ Identifier2 ]

[ Identifier3 ]

[ … ]

[ Standard error for Indicator 1 ]

[ Standard error for Indicator 2 ]

[ Standard error for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Total variation for Indicator 1 ]

[ Total variation for Indicator 2 ]

[ Total variation for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Between-implicate variability for Indicator 1 ]

[ Between-implicate variability for Indicator 2 ]

[ Between-implicate variability for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Average within-implicate variability for Indicator 1 ]

[ Average within-implicate variability for Indicator 2 ]

[ Average within-implicate variability for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Degrees of freedom for Indicator 1 ]

[ Degrees of freedom for Indicator 2 ]

[ Degrees of freedom for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

[ Missingness ratio for Indicator 1 ]

[ Missingness ratio for Indicator 2 ]

[ Missingness ratio for Indicator 3 ]

[ … ]

Note: A full list of indicators for each type of file are shown in the Indicators section. In the tables below, only a sample of variability measures are printed, but the complete list is available in the linked CSV schema files.

4.4.2. National QWI and state-level QWI

Variability measure Alternate name Variable name Units

st_Emp

st_B

Standard error of Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

st_EmpEnd

st_E

Standard error of End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

st_EmpS

st_F

Standard error of Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

vt_Emp

vt_B

Total variation of Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

vt_EmpEnd

vt_E

Total variation of End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

vt_EmpS

vt_F

Total variation of Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

vb_Emp

vb_B

Between-implicate variability for Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

vb_EmpEnd

vb_E

Between-implicate variability for End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

vb_EmpS

vb_F

Between-implicate variability for Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

df_Emp

df_B

Degrees of freedom for VT of Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

df_EmpEnd

df_E

Degrees of freedom for VT of End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

df_EmpS

df_F

Degrees of freedom for VT of Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

mr_Emp

mr_B

Missingness ratio for Beginning-of-Quarter Employment

Count

mr_EmpEnd

mr_E

Missingness ratio for End-of-Quarter Employment

Count

mr_EmpS

mr_F

Missingness ratio for Full-Quarter Employment (Stable)

Count

4.4.3. National QWI and state-level QWI rates

Variability measure Alternate name Variable name Units

st_HirAR

st_AR

Standard error of Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

st_HirNR

st_HR

Standard error of New Hiring Rate

Rate

st_HirRR

st_RR

Standard error of Recall Rate

Rate

vt_HirAR

vt_AR

Total variation of Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

vt_HirNR

vt_HR

Total variation of New Hiring Rate

Rate

vt_HirRR

vt_RR

Total variation of Recall Rate

Rate

vb_HirAR

vb_AR

Between-implicate variability for Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

vb_HirNR

vb_HR

Between-implicate variability for New Hiring Rate

Rate

vb_HirRR

vb_RR

Between-implicate variability for Recall Rate

Rate

df_HirAR

df_AR

Degrees of freedom for VT of Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

df_HirNR

df_HR

Degrees of freedom for VT of New Hiring Rate

Rate

df_HirRR

df_RR

Degrees of freedom for VT of Recall Rate

Rate

mr_HirAR

mr_AR

Missingness ratio for Hiring Rate (All Accessions)

Rate

mr_HirNR

mr_HR

Missingness ratio for New Hiring Rate

Rate

mr_HirRR

mr_RR

Missingness ratio for Recall Rate

Rate

4.4.4. Job-to-job flow counts (J2J)

Soon.

4.4.5. Job-to-job flow rates (J2JR)

Soon.

4.4.6. Job-to-job flow Origin-Destination (J2JOD)

Soon.

5. Categorical Variables

Categorical variable descriptions are displayed above each table, with the variable name shown in parentheses. Unless otherwise stated, every possible value/label combination for each categorical variable is listed. Please note that not all values will be available in every table.

5.1. agegrp

agegrp label

A00

All Ages (14-99)

A01

14-18

A02

19-21

A03

22-24

A04

25-34

A05

35-44

A06

45-54

A07

55-64

A08

65-99

5.2. education

education label

E0

All Education Categories

E1

Less than high school

E2

High school or equivalent, no college

E3

Some college or Associate degree

E4

Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree

E5

Educational attainment not available (workers aged 24 or younger)

5.3. ethnicity

ethnicity label

A0

All Ethnicities

A1

Not Hispanic or Latino

A2

Hispanic or Latino

5.4. firmage

firmage label

0

All Firm Ages

1

0-1 Years

2

2-3 Years

3

4-5 Years

4

6-10 Years

5

11+ Years

N

Firm Age Not Available

5.5. firmsize

firmsize label

0

All Firm Sizes

1

0-19 Employees

2

20-49 Employees

3

50-249 Employees

4

250-499 Employees

5

500+ Employees

N

Firm Size Not Available

5.6. ownercode

ownercode label

A00

All (1-5)

A01

Federal government

A05

All Private (5)

5.7. periodicity

periodicity label

A

Annual data

Q

Quarterly data

5.8. quarter

quarter label

1

1st Quarter of the Year (January-March)

2

2nd Quarter of the Year (April-June)

3

3rd Quarter of the Year (July-September)

4

4th Quarter of the Year (October-December)

5.9. race

race label

A0

All Races

A1

White Alone

A2

Black or African American Alone

A3

American Indian or Alaska Native Alone

A4

Asian Alone

A5

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander Alone

A6

Some Other Race Alone (Not Used)

A7

Two or More Race Groups

5.10. seasonadj

seasonadj label

S

Seasonally adjusted

U

Not seasonally adjusted

5.11. sex

sex label

0

All Sexes

1

Male

2

Female

5.12. stusps

geography stusps

01

AL

02

AK

04

AZ

05

AR

06

CA

08

CO

09

CT

10

DE

11

DC

12

FL

13

GA

15

HI

16

ID

17

IL

18

IN

19

IA

20

KS

21

KY

22

LA

23

ME

24

MD

25

MA

26

MI

27

MN

28

MS

29

MO

30

MT

31

NE

32

NV

33

NH

34

NJ

35

NM

36

NY

37

NC

38

ND

39

OH

40

OK

41

OR

42

PA

44

RI

45

SC

46

SD

47

TN

48

TX

49

UT

50

VT

51

VA

53

WA

54

WV

55

WI

56

WY

72

PR

78

VI

5.13. Industry

5.13.1. Industry levels

ind_level label

A

All Industries

S

NAICS Sectors

3

NAICS Subsectors

4

NAICS Industry Groups

5.13.2. Industry

Only a small subset of available values shown. The 2012 NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) is used for all years. QWI releases prior to R2015Q3 used the 2007 NAICS classification (see Schema v4.0.1). For a full listing of all valid 2012 NAICS codes, see http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/sssd/naics/naicsrch?chart=2012.

industry label

00

All NAICS Sectors

000

All NAICS Subsectors

0000

All NAICS Industry Groups

11

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

111

Crop Production

1111

Oilseed and Grain Farming

1112

Vegetable and Melon Farming

2382

Building Equipment Contractors

2383

Building Finishing Contractors

2389

Other Specialty Trade Contractors

31-33

Manufacturing

311

Food Manufacturing

3111

Animal Food Manufacturing

3112

Grain and Oilseed Milling

3113

Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing

5.14. Geography

5.14.1. Geographic levels

Geography labels for data files are provided in separate files, by scope. Each file label_geograpy_SCOPE.csv may contain one or more types of records as flagged by geo_level. For convenience, a composite file containing all geocodes is available as label_geography.csv. The 2015 vintage of  Census TIGER/Line geography is used for all tabulations as of the R2015Q4 release.

Shapefiles are described in a separate document.

geo_level label description sourceurl

B

Metropolitan/Micropolitan (complete)

Identifies 5-digit CBSA code provided by the Census Bureau’s Geography Division

http://www.census.gov/population/metro/

C

Counties

Identifies 5-digit FIPS code

https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html

M

Metropolitan/Micropolitan (state part)

Identifies 7-digit code constructed from the 2-digit state FIPS code and the 5-digit CBSA code provided by the Census Bureau’s Geography Division

N

National (50 States + DC)

Custom code using 00 to denote national scope

S

States

Identifies 2-digit FIPS code (also called "ANSI" codes)

https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ansi_statetables.html

W

Workforce Investment Areas

2-digit state FIPS code and the 6-digit WIA identifier provided by LED State Partners

5.14.2. National and state-level values

The file label_fipsnum.csv contains values and labels for all entities of geo_level N or S, and is a summary of separately available files.

geography label geo_level

00

National (50 States + DC)

N

01

Alabama

S

02

Alaska

S

04

Arizona

S

05

Arkansas

S

06

California

S

08

Colorado

S

45

South Carolina

S

46

South Dakota

S

47

Tennessee

S

48

Texas

S

49

Utah

S

50

Vermont

S

51

Virginia

S

53

Washington

S

5.14.3. Detailed state and substate level values

Note: cross-state CBSA, in records of type geo_level = M, are present on files of type label_geography_XX.csv. A particular cross-state CBSA will appear on multiple files.

5.15. Aggregation level

Measures within the J2J and QWI data products are tabulated on many different dimensions, including demographic characteristics, geography, industry, and other firm characteristics. For Origin-Destination (O-D) tables, characteristics of the origin and destination firm can be tabulated separately. Every tabulation level is assigned a unique aggregation index, represented by the agg_level variable. This index starts from 1, representing a national level grand total (all industries, workers, etc.), and progresses through different combinations of characteristics. There are gaps in the progression to leave space for aggregation levels that may be included in future data releases.

agg_level is currently reported only for J2J data products.

The following variables are included in the label_agg_level.csv file:

Variable Description

agg_level

index representing level of aggregation reported on a given record

worker_char

demographic (worker) characteristics reported on record

firm_char

firm characteristics reported on record. These will be the characteristics of the destination firm in O-D tabulations

firm_orig_char

characteristics of origin firm reported on record (O-D tabulations only)

j2j

Flag: Aggregation level available on J2J counts tables

j2jr

Flag: Aggregation level available on J2J rates tables

j2jod

Flag: Aggregation level available on J2J O-D tables

qwi

Flag: Aggregation level available on QWI

The characteristics available on an aggregation level are repeated using a series of flags following the standard schema:

  • geo_level - geographic level of table

  • ind_level - industry level of table

  • by_ variables - flags indicating other dimensions reported, including ownership, demographics, firm age and size.

These flags will be expanded to include origin characteristics in a later release. A shortened representation of the file is provided below, the complete file is available in the link above.

agg_level worker_char firm_char firm_orig_char j2j j2jr j2jod qwi geo_level

1

1

1

1

0

N

2

Sex

1

1

1

0

N

3

Age

1

1

1

0

N

4

Sex * Age

1

1

1

0

N

5

Race

1

1

1

0

N

9

Ethnicity

1

1

1

0

N

13

Race * Ethnicity

1

1

1

0

N

129

Firm Size

1

1

1

0

N

257

NAICS Sector

1

1

1

0

N

513

NAICS Subsector

0

0

0

0

N

3329

NAICS Sector * CBSA-state part

1

1

1

0

B

12289

Origin [Firm Age]

0

0

1

0

N

12353

Destination [Firm Age]

Origin [Firm Age]

0

0

0

0

N

6. Status flags

Each status flag in the tables above contains one of the following valid values. The values and their interpretation are listed in the table below.

Important
Important

Note: Currently, the J2J tables only contain status flags -1 and 1. Status flags with values 10 or above only appear in online applications, not in CSV files.

flag label

-2

no data available in this category for this quarter

-1

data not available to compute this estimate

1

OK

5

Value suppressed because it does not meet US Census Bureau publication standards.

6

Value calculated from other released measures - no significant distortion

7

Value calculated from other released measures - some of which have significantly distorted data

9

Data significantly distorted - fuzzed value released

10

Aggregate of cells - no significant distortion

11

Aggregate of cells not released because component cells do not meet U.S. Census Bureau publication standards

12

Aggregate of cells - some of which have significantly distorted data

7. Changes

7.1. This version from previous releases of V4.1 draft schema documents

  • 2015-02-25: corrected flag values

  • 2015-02-25: documents are now identified by date, not revision

  • 2015-03-10: Correction of the TIGER vintage that is used for geographic references

  • 2015-03-11: Added URL for J2J

  • 2015-03-11: Correction of typo in type naming convention, rename of naming_fipsalpha.csv to naming_geohi.csv to be consistent.

  • 2015-03-17: Changing of naming convention for to-be-released files based on federal government from fg → of. At this time, no such files have been released.

  • 2015-04-24: Changes to alternate name of SepSnx and EmpSpv, tentative rate names

  • 2015-04-26: Changes to name of variable schema files (qwipu → qwi), addition of variability variable schema files.

  • 2015-04-28: Fixed small typos in QWI variable short names

  • 2015-05-18: Updated agg_level description, replaced agg_level.csv file

  • 2015-05-22: Fixed minor rendering bug for QWI rate variability names. No change to actual metadata.

  • 2015-06-09: Fixed a minor coding error in label_fipsnum.csv, added a concatenation of geography files as label_geography_all.csv.

  • 2015-08-07: Minor text change for agg_level, modified agg_level file.

  • 2015-08-12: Removed the last 4 rows of variables_j2jod.csv, since they are not on the current beta J2JOD files.

  • 2015-08-25: Added a extension component [ext] to the file naming convention to reflect availability of Excel files (and PDF files)

  • 2016-03-16: Removed extraneous empty lines

  • 2016-04-12: Fixed typo in variables_qwi.csv (FrmJbLsS, EarnHirNS and status variables)

  • 2016-04-12: Incorporated all state-level geography from 4.0.5

  • 2016-04-12: Added additional geo_level for CBSA (complete)

  • 2016-04-12: Added additional agg_level values

  • 2016-04-12: Clarified labels of j2jod identifiers

  • 2016-04-12: Renamed label_geography_all as label_geography

  • 2016-04-12: Added a column geo_level to all label_geography_* files

  • 2016-08-08: Corrected erroneous Oregon geography labels.

7.2. Version 4.1d-draft from 4.0.1

  • added J2J, National QWI spec

  • added geohi category of ALL, US

  • added definitions of variability measures

  • added definitions of rates on separate file

  • added naming convention for additional files

  • added agg_level variable

  • added additional geo_level for CBSA (complete)

  • added SHP files and description thereof

This revision: Tue Aug 9 07:58:55 EDT 2016