File and Directory Naming Convention (V4.11.1)

Feedback is welcome. Please write us at ces.qwi.feedback@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 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.

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}

where [PRODUCT], [RELEASE], [GEOHI], and [TYPE] are each described below. [TYPE] is optional.

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	http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j
j2jod	j2j	Job-to-Job Flows Origin-Destination	Origin and destination flows and earnings, tabulated by the destination establishment	http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j
j2jr	j2j	Job-to-Job Flows Rates	Hiring and separation rates, to and from employment and nonemployment, summed across all establishments	http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j
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.	http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#lodes
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).	http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#qwi
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	lehd_shapefiles.html
pseoe	pseo	Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Earnings	Counts of employed graduates by institution, with earnings quartiles	https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#pseo
pseof	pseo	Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Flows	Counts of employed graduates by institution, location of work and industry	https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#pseo

type

product

Description

Explanation

url

j2j

Job-to-Job Flows Counts (J2J)

Counts of hires and separations, to and from employment and non-employment, summed across all establishments

http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j

j2jod

j2j

Job-to-Job Flows Origin-Destination

Origin and destination flows and earnings, tabulated by the destination establishment

http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j

j2jr

j2j

Job-to-Job Flows Rates

Hiring and separation rates, to and from employment and nonemployment, summed across all establishments

http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#j2j

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.

http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#lodes

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).

http://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#qwi

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

lehd_shapefiles.html

pseoe

pseo

Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Earnings

Counts of employed graduates by institution, with earnings quartiles

https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#pseo

pseof

pseo

Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes - Flows

Counts of employed graduates by institution, location of work and industry

https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#pseo

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

type

Description

all

Collection of all available states

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

type

Description

No demographic detail

Race by Ethnicity tabulations

Sex by Age tabulations

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

type

Description

No firm size or age detail

Tabulations by firm age

Tabulations by firm size

6.6. Geocat

( naming_geocat.csv )

type	Description
gb	Metropolitan (complete)
gc	Counties
gm	Metropolitan/Micropolitan (state parts)
gn	National (50 States + DC)
gs	States
gw	Workforce Investment Areas

type

Description

Metropolitan (complete)

Counties

Metropolitan/Micropolitan (state parts)

National (50 States + DC)

States

Workforce Investment Areas

6.7. Indcat

( naming_indcat.csv )

type	Description
n	all industries
ns	NAICS sectors
n3	NAICS subsectors
n4	NAICS industry groups

type

Description

all industries

NAICS sectors

NAICS subsectors

NAICS industry groups

6.8. Owncat

( naming_owncat.csv )

type	Description
of	Federal government (QWI Code A01)
op	All Private (QWI Code A05)
oslp	State, local, and private ownership categories (QWI Code A00)

type

Description

Federal government (QWI Code A01)

All Private (QWI Code A05)

oslp

State, local, and private ownership categories (QWI Code A00)

6.9. Sa

( naming_sa.csv )

type	Description
s	Seasonally adjusted
u	Not seasonally adjusted

type

Description

Seasonally adjusted

Not seasonally adjusted

6.10. Ext

( naming_ext.csv )

type	Description
csv	Comma-Separated file
pdf	PDF file (printable)
xls	Excel file (only select output)
xlsx	Excel file (not available for larger files)

type

Description

csv

Comma-Separated file

pdf

PDF file (printable)

xls

Excel file (only select output)

xlsx

Excel file (not available for larger files)