Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LA) la.txt Section Listing 1. Survey Definition 2. Files listed in the survey directory. 3. Time series, series file, data file, & mapping file definitions and relationships 4. Series file format and field definitions 5. Data file format and field definitions 6. Mapping file formats and field definitions 7. Data Element Dictionary ==================================================================================== Section 1 ==================================================================================== The following is a definition of: LOCAL AREA UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS (LA) Survey Description: Labor force and unemployment estimates for States and local areas are developed by State workforce agencies to measure local labor market conditions under a Federal-State cooperative program. The Department of Labor develops the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures which are used by State agencies for preparation of labor force and unemployment estimates. These estimates are derived from a variety of sources, including the Current Population Survey, the Current Employment Statistics survey, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, various programs at the Census Bureau, and unemployment insurance claims data from the State workforce agencies. To establish uniform labor force concepts and definitions in all States and areas consistent with those used for the U.S. as a whole, monthly national estimates of employment and unemployment from the Current Population Survey are used as controls (benchmarks) for the State labor force statistics. Summary Data Available: Monthly labor force and unemployment series are available for approximately 7,500 geographic areas, including cities over 25,000 population, counties, metropolitan areas, States, and other areas. For each area, the following measures are presented by place of residence: * Total civilian labor force, * Total number of people employed, * Total number of people unemployed, and * Unemployment rate For states, three additional measures are available: * Civilian noninstitutional population, * Labor force participation rate, and * Employment-population ratio These series begin in January 1976 for statewide data, and January 1990 for most substate areas. Frequency of Observations: Data are monthly in all cases. Annual Averages: Annual averages are available for not-seasonally-adjusted series. Data Characteristics: Rates are expressed as percents with one decimal place. Levels are measured as individual persons (not thousands) and are stored with no decimal places. Updating Schedule: With each issuance of preliminary data for the latest month, revisions to estimates for the prior month also become available. In addition, annual revisions typically result in updates to data for the preceding five years by mid-April of the following year. Other historical revisions occur periodically: Administrative changes may require that data for new areas be collected or that an existing series be dropped. Also, some series ID codes may change. References: BLS Handbook of Methods Local Area Unemployment Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/lau/home.htm) ==================================================================================== Section 2 ==================================================================================== The following Local Area Unemployment Statistics files are on the BLS internet in the sub-directory pub/time.series/la: la.data.0.CurrentU90-94 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual average, 1990-94 la.data.0.CurrentU95-99 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual average, 1995-99 la.data.0.CurrentU00-04 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual average, 2000-04 la.data.0.CurrentU05-09 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual average, 2005-09 la.data.0.CurrentU10-14 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual averages, 2010-14 la.data.0.CurrentU15-19 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual averages, 2015-forward la.data.0.CurrentU20-24 - All LAUS areas, not seasonally adjusted, monthly and annual averages, 2020-forward la.data.1.CurrentS - All seasonally adjusted data, monthly, 1976-forward la.data.2.AllStatesU - States, not seasonally adjusted la.data.3.AllStatesS - States, seasonally adjusted la.data.4.RegionDivisionU - Regions/Divisions, not seasonally adjusted la.data.5.RegionDivisionS - Regions/Divisions, seasonally adjusted la.data.7.Alabama - (state code = 01) AL = ALABAMA la.data.8.Alaska - (state code = 02) AK = ALASKA la.data.9.Arizona - (state code = 04) AZ = ARIZONA la.data.10.Arkansas - (state code = 05) AR = ARKANSAS la.data.11.California - (state code = 06) CA = CALIFORNIA la.data.12.Colorado - (state code = 08) CO = COLORADO la.data.13.Connecticut - (state code = 09) CT = CONNECTICUT la.data.14.Delaware - (state code = 10) DE = DELAWARE la.data.15.DC - (state code = 11) DC = DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA la.data.16.Florida - (state code = 12) FL = FLORIDA la.data.17.Georgia - (state code = 13) GA = GEORGIA la.data.18.Hawaii - (state code = 15) HI = HAWAII la.data.19.Idaho - (state code = 16) ID = IDAHO la.data.20.Illinois - (state code = 17) IL = ILLINOIS la.data.21.Indiana - (state code = 18) IN = INDIANA la.data.22.Iowa - (state code = 19) IA = IOWA la.data.23.Kansas - (state code = 20) KS = KANSAS la.data.24.Kentucky - (state code = 21) KY = KENTUCKY la.data.25.Louisiana - (state code = 22) LA = LOUISIANA la.data.26.Maine - (state code = 23) ME = MAINE la.data.27.Maryland - (state code = 24) MD = MARYLAND la.data.28.Massachusetts - (state code = 25) MA = MASSACHUSETTS la.data.29.Michigan - (state code = 26) MI = MICHIGAN la.data.30.Minnesota - (state code = 27) MN = MINNESOTA la.data.31.Mississippi - (state code = 28) MS = MISSISSIPPI la.data.32.Missouri - (state code = 29) MO = MISSOURI la.data.33.Montana - (state code = 30) MT = MONTANA la.data.34.Nebraska - (state code = 31) NE = NEBRASKA la.data.35.Nevada - (state code = 32) NV = NEVADA la.data.36.NewHampshire - (state code = 33) NH = NEW HAMPSHIRE la.data.37.NewJersey - (state code = 34) NJ = NEW JERSEY la.data.38.NewMexico - (state code = 35) NM = NEW MEXICO la.data.39.NewYork - (state code = 36) NY = NEW YORK la.data.40.NorthCarolina - (state code = 37) NC = NORTH CAROLINA la.data.41.NorthDakota - (state code = 38) ND = NORTH DAKOTA la.data.42.Ohio - (state code = 39) OH = OHIO la.data.43.Oklahoma - (state code = 40) OK = OKLAHOMA la.data.44.Oregon - (state code = 41) OR = OREGON la.data.45.Pennsylvania - (state code = 42) PA = PENNSYLVANIA la.data.46.PuertoRico - (state code = 72) PR = PUERTO RICO la.data.47.RhodeIsland - (state code = 44) RI = RHODE ISLAND, la.data.48.SouthCarolina - (state code = 45) SC = SOUTH CAROLINA la.data.49.SouthDakota - (state code = 46) SD = SOUTH DAKOTA la.data.50.Tennessee - (state code = 47) TN = TENNESSEE la.data.51.Texas - (state code = 48) TX = TEXAS la.data.52.Utah - (state code = 49) UT = UTAH la.data.53.Vermont - (state code = 50) VT = VERMONT la.data.54.Virginia - (state code = 51) VA = VIRGINIA la.data.56.Washington - (state code = 53) WA = WASHINGTON la.data.57.WestVirginia - (state code = 54) WV = WEST VIRGINIA la.data.58.Wisconsin - (state code = 55) WI = WISCONSIN la.data.59.Wyoming - (state code = 56) WY = WYOMING la.data.60.Metro - Metropolitan Statistical Areas and NECTAs (area_type_code = B) la.data.61.Division - Metropolitan Divisions and NECTA Divisions (area_type_code = C) la.data.62.Micro - Micropolitan Statistical Areas and NECTAs (area_type_code = D) la.data.63.Combined - Combined Statistical Areas and NECTAs (area_type_code = E) la.data.64.County - Counties and equivalents (area_type_code = F) la.data.65.City - Cities and towns (area_type_code = G or H) la.area - Area code (mapping file) la.area.type - Area type codes (mapping file) la.contacts - Contacts for la survey la.footnote - Footnote codes (mapping file) la.measure - Measure codes (mapping file) la.period - Period codes (mapping file) la.series - All series and their beginning and end dates la.txt - General information In addition, the following two files relate to the functionality of the Create Customized Maps application: la.areamaps and la.map_info. They are not relevant for processing LA time series data. ==================================================================================== Section 3 ==================================================================================== The definition of a time series, and its relationship to and the interrelationship among series, data, and mapping files are detailed below: A time series refers to a set of data values observed over an extended period of time at consistent intervals (i.e. monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually). BLS time series data are typically produced at monthly intervals and represent data ranging from a specific consumer item in a specific geographical area whose price is gathered monthly to a category of worker in a specific industry whose employment is being recorded monthly, etc. The files are organized such that data users are provided with the following set of files to use in their efforts to interpret data files: a) a series file (only one series file per survey) b) mapping files c) data files The series file contains a set of codes which, together, compose a series identification code that serves to uniquely identify a single time series. Additionally, the series file contains the following series-level information: a) the period and year corresponding to the first data observation b) the period and year corresponding to the most recent data observation The mapping files are definition files that contain explanatory text descriptions that correspond to each of the various codes contained within each series identification code. The data file contains one line of data for each observation period pertaining to a specific time series. Each line contains a reference to the following: a) a series identification code b) year in which data value is observed c) period for which data value is observed (M13 indicates annual average) d) data value e) footnote code (if applicable) ==================================================================================== Section 4 ==================================================================================== File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define la.series. Note that the Field Numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by tabs; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. series_id 20 LASBS060000000000003 2. area_type_code 1 L 3. area_code 15 BS0600000000000 4. measure_code 2 03 5. seasonal 1 S 6. srd_code 2 06 7. series_title 120 Unemployment Rate: Balance of California, state less Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (S) 8. footnote_codes 1 A 9. begin_year 4 1976 10. begin_period 3 M01 11. end_year 4 2020 12. end_period 3 M11 The series_id (LASBS060000000000003) can be broken out into: Element Value survey abbreviation = LA seasonal = S area_code = BS0600000000000 measure_code = 03 The series_title [Unemployment Rate: Balance of California, state less Los Angeles- Long Beach-Glendale MD (S)] is a concatenation of the measure, area text, and seasonal adjustment values: Element Value measure = Unemployment Rate: area_text = Balance of California, state less Los Angeles-Long Beach- seasonal = Glendale MD (S) ==================================================================================== Section 5 ==================================================================================== File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each data file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by tabs; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. The la.data file is partitioned into a number of separate files: See Section 2. All of the above-referenced data files have the following format: Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. series_id 20 LASBS060000000000003 2. year 4 1976 3. period 3 M01 4. value 12 9.4 5. footnote_codes 10 It varies The series_id (LASBS060000000000003) can be broken out into: Code Value survey abbreviation = LA seasonal = S area_code = BS0600000000000 measure_code = 03 ==================================================================================== Section 6 ==================================================================================== File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each mapping file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Mapping files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by tabs; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. File Name: la.area Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. area_type_code 1 A 2. area_code 15 ST0100000000000 3. area_text 80 Alabama File Name: la.area.type Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. area_type_code 1 A 2. area_type_text 80 Statewide File Name: la.footnote Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. footnote_code 1 C 2. footnote_text 100 Corrected. File Name: la.measure Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. measure_code 2 03 2. measure_text 30 unemployment rate File Name: la.period Field #/Data Element Length Value (Example) 1. period 3 M01 2. period_abbr 5 JAN 3. period_name 20 January ==================================================================================== Section 7 ==================================================================================== LOCAL AREA UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS (LA) DATABASE ELEMENTS Data Element Length Value (Example) Description area_code 15 ST0100000000000 Code identifying the geographic area to which the data refer. area_text 80 Alabama Name of the geographic area to which the data refer. area_type_code 1 A Unique code defining the type of area (A through N). area_type_text 80 Statewide Name of the area type. begin_period 3 M01 Identifies first data observation within the first year for which data are available for a given series. begin_year 4 1976 Identifies first year for which data are available for a given series. end_period 3 M11 Identifies last data observation within the last year for which data are available for a given series. end_year 4 2020 Identifies last year for which data are available for a given series. footnote_code 1 C Identifies footnote for the data value or series. footnote_text 100 Corrected. Contains the text of the footnote. measure_code 2 03 Code identifying element measured by the data (03, 04, 05 and 06). measure_text 30 unemployment rate Name of element measured by the data. period_abbr 5 JAN Abbreviation of period name. period 3 M01 Identifies period for which the data value is observed. period_name 20 January Full name of period to which the data value refers. seasonal 1 S Code identifying whether the data are seasonally adjusted (S) or not seasonally adjusted (U). series_id 20 LASST010000000000003 Code identifying the specific series. series_title 120 Unemployment Rate: Concatenation of the measure, Alabama (S) area text, and seasonal values. srd_code 2 01 State, region, or division code. value 12 6.1 Data value for series in a specifc year and period. year 4 2020 Identifies year of data value (1976-forward).