The Establishment Survey

The Bureau of Labor Statistics relies on two monthly surveys to measure employment levels and trends. These are the Current Population Survey, or CPS, which is a survey of households, and the Current Employment Statistics survey, or CES, which is a survey of business establishments.

In the CES, data is collected from over 100,000 businesses throughout the United States.

Most CES data are collected through telephone interviews or online reporting by participating businesses.

This data provides estimates of the number of workers firms have on their payrolls and other metrics, including employees’ average weekly hours and earnings.

The survey also provides detailed employment trends across industry sectors such as retail, education, and construction.

The two surveys—CPS and CES —may provide different employment estimates. For example, a self-employed person, such as a doctor running her clinic, is counted as employed in the CPS. However, she is excluded from the CES.

This difference is why both surveys are essential. The CPS is better at capturing the total number of unemployed people to calculate the unemployment rate, while the CES provides a more precise and timely measure of jobs by industry.