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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 https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/ and through LED Extraction Tool at https://ledextract.ces.census.gov/.
This document describes the file and directory naming schema for LEHD-provided CSV files.
2. Schema for Data File Contents
The contents (schema) for LEHD data files are described in lehd_public_use_schema.html. The contents (schema) for shapefiles are described in lehd_shapefiles.html.
3. Extends
This version modifies a portion of the structure of the metadata.Many files compliant with LEHD or QWI Schema v4.2 or lower will also be compliant with this schema, but compatibility is not guaranteed.
4. Basic Filename Schema
All files are preceded by a file type definition, followed by additional information on the aggregation level of the file, or some other identifier.
[TYPE]_[DETAILS].[EXT]
type | Used By | Description |
---|---|---|
[type]_[id] |
qwix |
CSV files queried from the LED Extraction Tool at ledextract.ces.census.gov. |
[type]_[geohi]_[demo]_[fas]_[geocat]_[indcat]_[ownercat]_[sa] |
qwi qwir qwiv qwivr j2j j2jr j2jod |
Common convention for currently provided files. |
lehd_shp_[geocat].zip |
shapefiles |
ZIP files containing data for shapefiles. |
version_[type].txt |
metadata |
Machine-readable text files with metadata on geographic and temporal coverage. |
j2jod_[geography]_avail.csv |
metadata |
Complex metadata (used only in J2JOD) - see below. |
pseoe_[institution state/all].csv |
pseo |
PSEO Earnings data broken by institution state or a single file with all institutions. |
pseof_[institution state/all].csv |
pseo |
PSEO Flows data broken by institution state or a single file with all institutions. |
4.1. QWIPU from the LED Extraction Tool
Files downloaded through the LED Extraction Tool at https://ledextract.ces.census.gov/ follow the following naming convention:
[type]_[id].[EXT]
where [id] is the Request ID (a unique string of characters) generated every time Submit Request'' is clicked. The ID references each query submission made to the database.
4.2. Metadata for QWI, J2J, and PSEO data files (version.txt)
Metadata accompanies the data files, identifying provenance, geographic and temporal coverage. These files follow the following naming convention:
version_[type].txt
where each name component is described in more detail below.
4.3. Metadata for J2JOD files
Because the origin-destination (J2JOD) data link two regions, we provide an auxiliary file with the time range for which cells containing data for each geographic pairing may appear in a data release. The reference region will always be either the origin or the destination. These files follow the following naming convention:
j2jod_[geography]_avail.csv
where each name component is described in more detail below.
5. Directory Paths
Downloadable data files are organized on the download server (at the time of this writing: https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/) in directories organized as follows:
SERVER/data/[PRODUCT]/[RELEASE]/[GEOHI][ /[TYPE] ]/{files}
6. Description of Naming Components
6.1. Release
A release is defined by the calendar year quarter when data production occurs. It is thus generically constructed as
R[YEAR]Q[QUARTER]
where [YEAR] is the 4-digit year and [QUARTER] the single-digit calendar year quarter (1-4).
6.2. Types and Products
( naming_type.csv )
type | product | Description | Explanation | url |
---|---|---|---|---|
j2j |
j2j |
Job-to-Job Flows Counts (J2J) |
Counts of hires and separations, to and from employment and non-employment, summed across all establishments |
|
j2jod |
j2j |
Job-to-Job Flows Origin-Destination |
Origin and destination flows and earnings, tabulated by the destination establishment |
|
j2jr |
j2j |
Job-to-Job Flows Rates |
Hiring and separation rates, to and from employment and nonemployment, summed across all establishments |
|
lodes |
lodes |
LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) |
LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) used by OnTheMap. Version 7 and higher of LODES was enumerated by 2010 census blocks. Version 6 and lower of LODES were enumerated with 2000 census blocks. |
|
qwi |
qwi |
Quarterly Workforce Indicators Public Use Counts (QWIPU) |
The Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) are a set of economic indicators including employment, job creation, earnings, and other measures of employment flows. The QWI are reported using detailed firm characteristics (geography, industry, age, size) and worker demographics information (sex, age, education, race, ethnicity). |
|
qwir |
qwi |
Quarterly Workforce Indicators Public Use Rates |
Rates for flow variables in the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) |
tbd |
qwirv |
qwi |
Quarterly Workforce Indicators Variability Measures for Rates |
Variability measures for rates in the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) |
tbd |
qwiv |
qwi |
Quarterly Workforce Indicators Variability Measures |
Variability measures for Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) |
tbd |
lehd_shp |
all |
LEHD Shapefiles |
Shapefiles are used to provide mapping functionality in QWI Explorer and Job-to-Job Explorer |
|
pseoe |
pseo |
Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Earnings |
Counts of employed graduates by institution, with earnings quartiles |
|
pseof |
pseo |
Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Flows |
Counts of employed graduates by institution, location of work and industry |
6.3. Geohi
The geohi component in filenames is based on one of two possible code sets:
-
the lower-case alphabetic FIPS or postal state code based on State and State Equivalents - National FIPS and GNIS Codes File (see also label_stusps.csv).
-
the numeric CBSA code corresponding to the metropolitan areas (see label_geography_metro.csv)
-
It is expanded to encompass additional codes denoting national coverage, or a collection of states.
For directories, files at the CBSA level are collected under a single metro directory.
type | Description |
---|---|
all |
Collection of all available states |
us |
National data (50 states + DC) |
metro |
Indicates collection of CBSA-level files (directory names only) |
[st] |
Any legal 2-character lower-case state postal code |
[NNNNN] |
Any valid CBSA-derived code listed in label_geography_metro.csv |
6.4. Demo
( naming_demo.csv )
type | Description |
---|---|
d |
No demographic detail |
rh |
Race by Ethnicity tabulations |
sa |
Sex by Age tabulations |
se |
Sex by Education tabulations |
sarhe |
Collection of sa-rh-se tabulations |
6.5. Fas
( naming_fas.csv )
type | Description |
---|---|
f |
No firm size or age detail |
fa |
Tabulations by firm age |
fs |
Tabulations by firm size |
6.6. Geocat
type | Description |
---|---|
gb |
Metropolitan (complete) |
gc |
Counties |
gm |
Metropolitan/Micropolitan (state parts) |
gn |
National (50 States + DC) |
gs |
States |
gw |
Workforce Investment Areas |
6.7. Indcat
type | Description |
---|---|
n |
all industries |
ns |
NAICS sectors |
n3 |
NAICS subsectors |
n4 |
NAICS industry groups |
6.8. Owncat
type | Description |
---|---|
of |
Federal government (QWI Code A01) |
op |
All Private (QWI Code A05) |
oslp |
State, local, and private ownership categories (QWI Code A00) |
6.10. Ext
( naming_ext.csv )
type | Description |
---|---|
csv |
Comma-Separated file |
PDF file (printable) |
|
xls |
Excel file (only select output) |
xlsx |
Excel file (not available for larger files) |