Labor Force Data
Labor force statistics come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) database.
o BLS LAUS Data link: Tables and Maps : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
o BLS LAUS Data definitions: Concepts : Handbook of Methods: U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics
Unemployment Rates
LAUS defines unemployment as: “… people who were not employed during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. People who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.”
Household Incomes in the U.P
Poverty Rates
Poverty statistics come from the United States Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE). SAIPE defines poverty as a family with a pre-taxed household income less than the official poverty threshold and not apart of an institutionalized, military, or dormitory population. Additionally, child under 15 who are not related to the household reference person (for, example foster children) are not counted.
Poverty Rates
SAIPE methodology tends to change quickly making year to year comparison less accurate which is reflected in the confidence intervals.
o SAIPE data: SAIPE o SAIPE methodology: SAIPE Methodology
o SAIPE definitions: Poverty Universe Data
o U.S. Census Bureau definition of poverty: How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty