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Abstract:
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The Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey produces nonfarm payroll employment estimates at national-, state-, and metropolitan-area levels each month on a timely basis. The CES estimates, based on a sample of nearly 400,000 worksites, are among the most closely watched principal economic indicators. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, users were keenly interested in the employment effects from the storm; at the same time, the unprecedented devastation in the Gulf Coast region presented severe challenges to conducting the survey. This paper will detail efforts by BLS to maximize survey response, adjust estimation procedures for nonresponse, and adjust business birth/death models to produce viable estimates in the months immediately following the hurricane. The paper also describes efforts to analyze the effects of Katrina on overall employment trends.
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