What kind of hours and earnings data are available?

National estimates of average weekly hours and average hourly earnings are made for the private sector, with detail for about 500 private industries as well as overtime hours in manufacturing.

Hours and earnings are derived from reports of gross payrolls and corresponding paid hours for production workers, construction workers, and nonsupervisory workers in the service sector. The payroll for workers covered by the CES survey is reported before deductions of any kind, e.g. for old-age and unemployment insurance, withholding tax, union dues, or retirement plans. Included in the payroll reports is pay for overtime, vacations, holidays, and sick leave paid directly by the firm. Bonuses, commissions, and other types of non-wage cash payments are excluded unless they are earned and payed regularly (at least once a month). Employee benefits paid by the employer, as well as tips and payments in kind, are excluded.

Total hours during the pay period include all hours worked (including overtime hours) and hours paid for holidays, vacations, and sick leave. Total hours differs from the concept of scheduled hours worked. The average weekly hours reflects the effects of numerous factors such as unpaid absenteeism, labor turnover, part-time work, strikes, and fluctuations in work schedules for economic reasons. Overtime hours in manufacturing are collected where overtime premiums were paid if hours were in excess of the number of straight time hours in a workday or workweek.

Can I get occupational data from the CES survey?

No. The CES survey does not collect occupational information. Occupational employment information is collected as part of the Current Population Survey and the Occupational Employment Statistics program.

Are part-time workers counted in your survey?

Yes; however, the establishment survey does not have a specific category for part-time workers. Since the survey captures counts of all employees on the payroll, part-time employees are part of the total; they are not counted separately. The Current Population Survey does have a separate tally for part-time workers.

Who is included in the data for production or nonsupervisory workers?

The worker groups for which hours and earnings data are collected varies slightly by industry. In service-producing industries, this data is collected for nonsupervisory workers - employees who are not owners or are not primarily employed to direct, supervise, or plan the work of others.

In goods-producing industries, the data is collected for production workers in mining and manufacturing and construction workers. In addition to the exclusion of owners and supervisory employees applied in service-producing industries, the production worker/construction worker categories exclude employees not directly involved in production.

Page 2 of 7