Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20212

Date : September 8, 2014

LAUS Technical Memorandum No. S-14-23

MEMORANDUM FOR : STATE WORKFORCE AGENCY ADMINISTRATORS

AND BLS REGIONAL COMMISSIONERS

FROM : JAY A. MOUSA

Associate Commissioner

Office of Field Operations

SUBJECT : Exceptions to Standard Handbook Estimation Procedures

Purpose: This memorandum provides information regarding exceptions to the standard Handbook methodology and how these exceptions and atypical adjustments will be implemented in LAUSToo in early 2015.

Background: During each decennial redesign, approved atypicals and methodology exceptions are reassessed in light of changes to geography and input data. Information about this process during the last redesign, which occurred in early 2005, can be found in LAUS Technical Memorandum No. S-05-14, Exceptions to Standard LAUS Estimation Procedures, dated February 1, 2005. For the upcoming redesign, which will occur in early 2015, current Handbook atypical/exception approvals will be automatically carried over into LAUSToo.

Because annual processing will not occur in LAUSToo for reference years prior to 2010, this memorandum summarizes atypical/exception information for 2010 forward only.

Exceptions to the Handbook Methodology: BLS has approved exception requests for three different Handbook lines: agricultural employment (line 3), exhaustee unemployment (line 9), and non-covered agricultural unemployment (line 10). For lines 3 and 9, the exceptions permit the standard methodology to be overridden with an alternative methodology designed by the requesting State. For line 10, the exceptions enable the calculation of the line, whereas it otherwise would not be calculated.

All current Handbook line exception approvals will be carried over into LAUSToo with some modifications. In LAUSToo, Handbook estimates will be calculated for counties (or, in New England, for Minor Civil Divisions [MCDs]) instead of for Labor Market Areas (LMAs). Given this, atypical Handbook inputs for multi-county Handbook areas in LAUSOne will need to be broken out at the county level for entry into LAUSToo next year. Also, the annual covered agricultural employment (A01) data entered for exception calculation of line 10 will become a monthly input in LAUSToo. Currently, A01 is an annual input. These changes in geographic scope (LMA vs. county) and reference period (year vs. month) are summarized in the table below.

Handbook Line	Input Batch ID	Geography	Reference Period
Agricultural Employment (line 3)	L03	Entered by county in LAUSToo – no longer an input at the LMA level	No change – still entered by month
Exhaustee Unemployment (line 9)	L09	No change – all approved LMAs happen to be counties
Non-covered Agricultural Unemployment (line 10)	A01	Entered by county in LAUSToo – no longer an input at the LMA level	Entered by month in LAUSToo – no longer an annual input

Attachment 1 identifies States with approved Handbook exceptions that will be carried over into LAUSToo. Unless otherwise footnoted, each exception ‘X’ indicator applies to all counties in the State and to all months from January 2010 forward.

Action required: Any State wishing to begin atypical estimation of any Handbook line in early 2015 should use the form located on the LAUS Intranet here to describe their proposed method and request BLS approval. These requests should be submitted by no later than November 7, 2014, to ensure that BLS has adequate time to review the proposal and respond. Please note that all Handbook exceptions must be implemented at the county (or New England MCD) level.

Any State wishing to discontinue an existing approved atypical/exception should inform their regional office by no later than January 9, 2015.

States that will continue atypical/exception estimation of Handbook lines 3 and 10 will need to enter L03 and A01 data, respectively, at the county level in LAUSToo. Note that where a county is an alias, the 15-character code of the associated primary area must be used. The A01 data, which in LAUSOne were entered by year, will need to be entered into LAUSToo by month. Atypical Handbook data will need to be entered during 2015 for reference years 2010-14 for annual processing and for January 2015 forward during monthly processing. Accordingly, the data should be ready for entry into LAUSToo by due dates indicated in upcoming memoranda.

Workload: Neutral.

Inquiries: All inquiries should be directed to the appropriate regional office.

Effective date: These instructions are effective upon receipt of this memorandum.

Attachment