LMI@Work Glossary

This glossary contains definitions of some of the most frequently used labor market information (LMI) terms. The definitions given are as they apply to the use of LMI data. Some terms are repeated as they have more than one definition when used in the context of various LMI programs and surveys. The user of LMI data should familiarize himself or herself with similarities and differences of LMI terms.

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Agricultural Employment	Includes the total of farmers, their families and hired workers who receive wages, salaries, or commissions for work performed on farms for the pay period including the 12th of the month. [Back to Top]
Applicant	A person legally qualified to work, and who has either a partial or a full application for services on file with any One Stop Career Center. [Back to Top]
Average	The numerical result obtained by dividing the sum of two or more quantities by the number of quantities. [Back to Top]
Average Annual Wage	Calculated by taking the total wages (payroll) and dividing by the average annual employment. [Back to Top]
Average Hourly Earnings (Manufacturing CES-790)	Average hourly earnings for an industry is obtained by dividing total sample payrolls by total staff hours. The earnings reflect not only basic hourly and incentive wage rates but also such factors as premium pay for overtime work and shift differentials. [Back to Top]
Average Hourly Earnings (BLS Wage Surveys and Industry Wage Surveys)	Average hourly earnings for an industry is obtained by dividing total sample payrolls by total staff hours. This number excludes: premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts; performance bonuses and lump-sum payments of the type negotiated in the auto and aerospace industries; as well as profit-sharing payments, attendance bonuses, Christmas or year-end bonuses, and other non-production bonuses. However, pay increases--but not bonuses--under cost-of-living allowance clauses and incentive payments are included. [Back to Top]
Average Industry Wage	See Average Hourly Earnings (Manufacturing CES-790). [Back to Top]
Average Weekly Earnings (Wage)	The average weekly earnings are calculated based on the product of the weekly hours and hourly earnings/wages. [Back to Top]
Average Weekly Hours (Manufacturing CES-790)	Calculated based on the number of hours for which persons on an establishment payroll receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. [Back to Top]
Average Annual Wage	Calculated by taking the total wages (payroll) and dividing by the average annual employment. [Back to Top]
BLS	See Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Back to Top]
BLS-790	Form name for the Current Employment Statistics Program (Hours and Earnings). [Back to Top]
Benefits	The cost to employers for paid leave, supplemental pay (including nonproduction bonuses), insurance, retirement and savings plans and legally required benefits (such as Social Security, Workers' Compensation, and Unemployment Insurance). Excluded from employee benefits are such items as payment-in-kind, free room and board, and tips. [Back to Top]
Bureau of the Census:	Conducts censuses of the population and housing every 10 years, and of agriculture, business, governments, manufacturers, mineral industries, and transportation every 5 years. The Bureau also conducts the Current Population Survey for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). [Back to Top]
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)	An agency of the Department of Commerce. The mission of BEA is to produce and disseminate accurate, timely, relevant, and cost-effective economic account statistics that provide government, businesses, households, and individuals with a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of economic activity. BEA's national, regional, and international economic accounts present basic information on such key issues as U.S. economic growth, regional economic development, and the Nation's position in the world economy. [Back to Top]
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)	BLS is the principal data-gathering agency of the federal government in the field of labor economics. BLS collects, processes, analyzes and disseminates data relating to: employment, unemployment, the labor force, productivity, prices, family expenditures, wages, industrial relations, and occupational safety and health. [Back to Top]
Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey	In brief, the Current Employment Statistics Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments that provide estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation, states, and most major metropolitan areas. [Back to Top]
Consumer Price Index (CPI)	This index, developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is also known as the "cost-of-living" index. The Consumer Price Index is a statistical measure of change, over time, in the prices of goods and services in major expenditure groups such as food, housing, apparel, transportation, health, and recreation typically purchased by urban consumers. Essentially it measures the purchasing power of consumer dollars by comparing what a sample "market basket" of goods and services costs today with what the same sample market basket cost at an earlier date. [Back to Top]
Current Population Survey (CPS)	A nationwide monthly household survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The sample consists of approximately 60,000 households selected to represent the U.S. population 16 years of age and older. Households are interviewed on a rotating basis so that three-fourths of the sample is the same for any two consecutive months. The survey of the civilian non-institutional population provides monthly statistics on employment, unemployment, and related measures, which are analyzed and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. National labor force information from this survey is published monthly by the U.S. Department of Labor in "Employment and Earnings," "Monthly Report on the Labor Force." In addition to providing these statistics for the nation, the CPS sample allows development of monthly data for the 11 largest industrial states. [Back to Top]
Civilian Employment	See Employed Persons. [Back to Top]
Civilian Labor Force	All persons 16 years of age or over within a specified geographic area, who are either employed or unemployed, excluding persons serving in the armed forces. [Back to Top]
Claimant, Unemployment Insurance	An individual who has filed a request for determination of insured status of a new claim. [Back to Top]
Dictionary of Occupational Title (DOT)	A source of descriptive information and a classification system concerning most occupations in the American economy. The DOT has been replaced by O*NET as the nation's primary source of occupational information.[Back to Top]
Disposable Personal Income	Income that remains after taxes and non-tax payments to the government are deducted. See also Per Capita Income, Personal Income, and Spendable Earnings. [Back to Top]
Employment Cost Index (ECI)	Measures that change over time in the cost of labor, including the cost of wages, salaries, and employee benefits. Cost levels data provide average costs per hour worked for wages and salaries and specific benefits. This release is issued quarterly. [Back to Top]
Earnings	Money earned from labor or service: wages, investment, or profit. [Back to Top]
Economic Indicators	Measurements of various economic and business movements, as well as activities of a community such as: employment, unemployment, hours worked, income, savings, volume of building permits, volume of sales, etc., the fluctuation of which affects and may be used to determine overall economic trends. [Back to Top]
Economically Disadvantaged Individual	An individual who is a member of a family which: (1) receives cash welfare payments or (2) has a total annual income that does not exceed established poverty levels determined in accordance with criteria established by the Office of Management and Budget. [Back to Top]
Employment Status	The indication of whether or not the individual is employed and the regular period of time that the individual is employed. Full-Time Employment: The 40-hour week, except where fewer hours are normal to the occupation, industry, or given employer, but on no account less than 30 hours per week. Part-Time Employment: Employment which does not meet the full-time employment definition. [Back to Top]
Employment and Wages (ES-202):	Data are derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. Industry employment and payroll information is provided quarterly for the state, the labor market areas, counties, workforce or service delivery areas, and annually for cities and towns as well. [Back to Top]
Goods Producing Industries	In order to assist in the evaluation of underlying economic trends, it is an accepted practice to consider that the economy consists of two major parts: the goods-producing sector -- manufacturing, mining, and construction -- and the service-producing sector -- transportation, communication, utilities, trade, finance, insurance, real estate, the service industries, and government. [Back to Top]
Gross Domestic Product (GDP):	Gross Domestic Product is a measure of the total production and consumption of goods and services in the U.S. There are two complementary measures of GDP, one based on income and one based on expenditures. GDP is measured on the product side by adding up the labor, capital, and tax costs of producing the output. On the consumption side, GDP is measured by adding up expenditures by households, businesses, government, and net foreign purchases. Theoretically, these two measures should be equal. However, due to problems collecting data, there is often a discrepancy between the two measures. The GDP price deflator is used to convert output measured at current prices into constant-dollar GDP. This data is used to define business cycle peaks and troughs. Total GDP growth of between 2.0% and 2.5% is generally considered to be optimal when the economy is at full employment (unemployment between 5.5% and 6.0%). Higher growth than this leads to accelerating inflation, while lower growth indicates a weak economy. [Back to Top]
Hours	Hours as used in the CES-790 refers to hours paid for during the pay period of reference for production, construction, or non-supervisory workers. The hours include hours paid for holidays and vacations, as well as for sick leave. [Back to Top]
Incentive Pay	Total amount of money earned by an individual from all sources. [Back to Top]
Industry	Describes the major type of economic activity engaged in by a firm or group of firms. In terms of classifying industries, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. [Back to Top]
Initial Claim	Either a new or an additional claim. A new unemployment claim is a request for determination of insured status for purposes of establishing a new benefit year. An additional claim is a notice filed at the beginning of a second or subsequent series of claims within a benefit year, when a break in job attachment has occurred since the last claim was filed concerning which state procedures require that separation information be obtained. [Back to Top]
Job Bank	Each state has a computerized listing of the job openings placed by employers. This service is provided at no cost to either employers or applicants. In addition to computer printouts, Career Center offices are equipped with computers and resource rooms to assist applicants in locating a job for which they are qualified. [Back to Top]
Job Insurance	See Unemployment Insurance. [Back to Top]
Job Opening	A single job opening for which the One-Stop Career Center has on file a request to select and refer an applicant or applicants. [Back to Top]
Labor Force Participation Rate	The proportion of the total civilian non-institutional population 16 years or older, or of a demographic subgroup of that population classified as "in the labor force." [Back to Top]
Labor Area	See Labor Market Area. [Back to Top]
Labor Demand	An estimate of the number of job opportunities which exist and will occur over a given period of time. [Back to Top]
Labor Force	See Civilian Labor Force. [Back to Top]
Labor Market Analysis	The measurement and evaluation of economic forces as they relate to the employment process. There are many variables affecting labor, geography, and demand-supply relationships, including such factors as population growth and characteristics, industrial structure and development, technological developments, shifts in consumer demands, volume and extent of unionization and trade disputes, recruitment practices, wage levels and conditions of employment, and training opportunities. [Back to Top]
Labor Market Area	Consists of a central city or cities and the surrounding territory within commuting distance. It is an economically integrated geographical unit within which workers may readily change jobs without changing their place of residence. The area generally takes the name of its central city. The boundaries depend primarily on economic and geographic factors, and not on political jurisdiction. [Back to Top]
Labor Market Information (LMI):	The delivery and analysis of labor force, employment, unemployment, wage, supply and demand, occupational, industrial, economic and demographic data for the analysis of manpower problems for a specifically defined area. [Back to Top]
Labor Supply	The number of persons employed and unemployed plus those that would seek employment if they believed jobs were available. Generally this term has been applied to those who are unemployed. [Back to Top]
Layoff	Suspension from pay by the company for reasons such as lack of orders, plant breakdown, shortage of materials, or termination of seasonal or temporary employment, etc. [Back to Top]
Mean	See Average. [Back to Top]
Median	Designates position: one-half of the workers receive the same as or more and one-half receive the same as or less than the rate shown. [Back to Top]
Minimum Wage	Refers to the lowest wage to be paid employees covered under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and its subsequent amendments. [Back to Top]
Major Labor Market Area	These areas usually have at least one central city with a population of 50,000 or more. In most instances boundaries of major labor areas coincide with those of Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas (PMSAs) as determined by the Office of Management and Budget in cooperation with a federal interagency committee. [Back to Top]
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)	See Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area. [Back to Top]
Minority	A term denoting all races except Caucasian. [Back to Top]
Non-Agricultural (Non-farm) Wage and Salary Employment	All full-time and part-time employees of all classes (including employees on paid vacation or paid sick leave) who work in or received compensation from nonagricultural establishments for any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month. It does not include pensioners, members of the armed forces, self-employed, or unpaid family workers, and persons on leave of absence without pay. [Back to Top]
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)	Replaces the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification system. NAICS is the first-ever North American industry classification system. The system was developed by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide comparable statistics across the three countries. For the first time, government and business analysts will be able tocompare directly industrial production statistics collected and published in the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries. NAICS also provides for increased comparability with the International Standard Industrial Classification System (ISIC, Revision 3) developed and maintained by the United Nations. [Back to Top]
Occupation	The name or the title of an occupation or job identifying various job duties of a worker. [Back to Top]
Other Nonfarm Employment	This refers to self-employed, unpaid family and private household workers. [Back to Top]
Output Per Hour of All Persons (Labor Productivity):	The value of goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor input. [Back to Top]
Overtime Hours	Represent the portion of gross average weekly hours which were in excess of regular hours and for which overtime premiums were paid. [Back to Top]
Occupational Projections	A statistical procedure developed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide future labor demand information by occupation for states and major areas. [Back to Top]
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)	OMB's predominant mission is to assist the President in overseeing the preparation of the Federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies. In helping to formulate the President's spending plans, OMB evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President's budget and with Administration policies. [Back to Top]
*ONET, the Occupational Information Network**	A comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics. As the replacement for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, O*NET will be the nation's primary source of occupational information. [Back to Top]
Per Capita Income	A measure of income by unit of population (per person). Total personal income for a given area divided by population of the area. [Back to Top]
Personal Income	Income received from all sources less contributions to social insurance, retirement plans, and social security. [Back to Top]
Producer Price Index (PPI)	A family of indexes that measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPIs measure price change from the perspective of the seller. This contrasts with other measures, such as the Consumer Price Index, that measure price changes from the purchaser's perspective. Sellers' and purchasers' prices may differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs. [Back to Top]
Production Workers	Workers in manufacturing industries, which includes working supervisors and all non-supervisory workers closely associated with production operations. [Back to Top]
Participation Rate	See Labor Force Participation Rate. [Back to Top]
Place of Residence	Employment, unemployment, and labor force data based on where workers live rather than where they work. [Back to Top]
Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)	This is a title applied to large concentrated labor market areas of the U.S. and adopted by the U.S. Bureau of the Budget in 1949. The primary objective was to have all reporting federal agencies utilize the same boundaries for a given geographic area in publishing statistical data useful for analyzing metropolitan problems. The criteria for defining PMSAs and MSAs are currently undergoing revision. A PMSA is part of a larger consolidated MSA. [Back to Top]
Real Earnings	Earnings adjusted to reflect the effects of changes in consumer prices. The deflator for this series is derived from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. [Back to Top]
Report of Work Stoppage	Measures the number and duration of major strikes or lockouts (involving 1,000 workers or more) occurring during the month (or year), the number of workers involved, and the amount of time lost because of stoppage. [Back to Top]
Referral (to a job)	The act of arranging to bring to the attention of any employer (or another One-Stop Career Center office) an applicant who is available for a job opening following a selection interview with the applicant. [Back to Top]
Salary	A fixed compensation for services paid on a regular basis generally on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. [Back to Top]
Seasonal Adjustment	Statistical modifications made to compensate for predictable fluctuations that recur more or less regularly every year in a time series such as unemployment rates. These fluctuations can be so strong as to distort the underlying trends. For this reason unemployment rates are reported on a seasonally adjusted basis to compensate for such influences as the summer closing of schools, temporary hiring for the holiday season, and seasonal style changes. Such adjustments facilitate the evaluation of the more important underlying reasons for month-to-month changes in joblessness. [Back to Top]
Shift Differential	An additional percentage added to the regular hourly rate for workers on other than regular shifts, i.e., swing or graveyard shift workers. [Back to Top]
Standard Hours	The workweek for which employees receive regular straight-time salaries (exclusive of paid overtime at regular and/or premium rates of pay). [Back to Top]
Self-Employed, Unpaid Family and Domestic Workers	Persons who work in non-farm industries who are not on payrolls, i.e., self- employed persons, domestic workers in private households, and unpaid family workers. [Back to Top]
Service Occupations, Service Industries and Service-Producing Industries	Three terms often used interchangeably and incorrectly. Each has a separate and distinct meaning: Service Occupations refers to the category of jobs performed in and around private households; serving individuals in institutions and in commercial and other establishments; and protecting the public against crime, fire, accidents, and acts of war. All industries employ workers in service classifications. Service Industries refers to establishments in that division of the industrial structure that renders a wide variety of services to individuals and business establishments. These industries, which employ workers in a wide variety of white collar, blue collar, and service occupations, represent just one segment of the much larger group of service-producing industries. Service-Producing Industries: In order to assist in the evaluation of underlying economic trends, it is an accepted practice to consider that the economy consists of two major parts: the goods-producing sector (manufacturing, mining and construction) and the service-producing sector. The latter includes transportation, communication, utilities; trade; finance, insurance, real estate; the service industries; and government. Accordingly, it is a multi-industry group that is characterized by highly complex occupational staffing patterns. In terms of white collar, blue collar, and service occupational or job classifications, the latter is the smallest group employed. [Back to Top]
Service-Producing	See; Service Industries. [Back to Top]
Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC): NOTE	The North American Industry Classification System is replacing the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification system. The SIC covers the entire field of economic activity. It is a system of classifying establishments according to type of activity. [Back to Top]
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System	The SOC is used by all Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of over 800 occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, occupations are combined to form 23 major groups, 96 minor groups, and 449 broad occupations. Each broad occupation includes detailed occupation(s) requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience. [Back to Top]
Supply and Demand	See Labor Demand and Labor Supply. [Back to Top]
Taxable Wages	(Refers to ES-202) The payroll amount that is taxable under the UI law. [Back to Top]
Total Compensation	Includes wages, salaries, and the employer's cost for employee benefits. [Back to Top]
Total Wage	The total payroll of all establishments during the time period specified. [Back to Top]
Total Employed	The sum of agricultural, non-farm wage and salary, self employed, unpaid family, and domestic workers adjusted to eliminate double counting of persons holding more than one job and to a place of residence basis. [Back to Top]
Total Unemployed	The sum of persons receiving unemployment insurance benefits, persons who have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits and are still unemployed, persons who have delayed filing for benefits but who are not working, unemployed persons who applied for benefits but were not qualified to receive them, workers separated from industries not covered by unemployment insurance and unemployed persons newly entering or reentering the labor force. According to the BLS, unemployed persons consist of those in the civilian labor force 16 years old and over who did not work during the survey week, but who made specific efforts to find a job within the last four weeks and who were available for work during the survey week. Also included are those who were not working and were waiting to report to a new wage or salary job within 30 days. [Back to Top]
Total Unemployment Rate	This is a familiar economic indicator. It is an expression of all unemployed persons as a percent of the civilian labor force. Total Unemployment Rate = Unemployed/Total Labor Force (unemployed + employed). [Back to Top]
Unadjusted Data	Data that has not undergone any seasonal adjustment. [Back to Top]
Unemployment Insurance (UI)	Unemployment insurance is a program for the accumulation of funds paid by employers to be used for the payment of unemployment insurance to workers during periods of unemployment which are beyond the workers' control. Unemployment insurance replaces a part of the worker's wage loss if he becomes eligible for payments. UI serves as an economic stabilizer by maintaining an individual's purchasing power when unemployed. [Back to Top]
Unemployed Persons	According to the BLS, unemployed persons consist of those in the civilian labor force, 16 years old and over, who did not work during the survey week, but who made specific efforts to find a job within the last four weeks and who were available for work during the survey week. Also included are those who were not working and were waiting to report to a new wage or salary job within 30 days. [Back to Top]
Unemployment rates	Unemployment, its level and composition, is widely regarded as a key index of economic well-being. Because of this, there is a basic need for the objective measurement of the number and characteristics of the unemployed. [Back to Top]
Unfilled Job Openings	Job openings received by the local Career Center office that have not been filled as of a specified date. [Back to Top]
Universe of Need (UN)	The universe of need represents the total number of different individuals, both unemployed and underemployed, who may need employment-related assistance at some time during the year. It includes estimates of the disadvantaged, other poor people who do not meet the criteria as disadvantaged, individuals in near poverty, and non-poor workers who are unemployed or underutilized during the course of the year. [Back to Top]
Wage	Money paid an employee at relatively short intervals, often daily or weekly, figured on an hourly or piecework basis synonymous with salary. [Back to Top]
Wages and Salaries	Consists of earnings before payroll deductions, including production bonuses, incentive earnings, commissions, and cost-of-living adjustment. [Back to Top]