The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The Handbook is revised every two years. The OOH offers information on the hundreds of occupations that provide the majority of jobs in the United States. Each occupational profile describes the typical duties performed by the occupation, the work environment of that occupation, the typical education and training needed to enter the occupation, the median pay for workers in the occupation, and the job outlook over the coming decade for that occupation. For information on occupations, please visit: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/

The Employment Projections (EP) program develops information about the labor market for the Nation as a whole for 10 years in the future. For more information visit: https://www.bls.gov/emp/

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program is a federal-state cooperative effort in which monthly estimates of total employment and unemployment are prepared for over 7,500 areas: Census regions and divisionsStatesMetropolitan Statistical AreasMetropolitan DivisionsMicropolitan Statistical AreasCombined Metropolitan Statistical AreasSmall Labor Market AreasCounties and county equivalentsCities of 25,000 population or moreCities and towns in New England regardless of population These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation, and publication of the estimates that state workforce agencies prepare under agreement with BLS. A wide variety of customers use these estimates: Federal programs use the data for allocations to states and areas, as well as eligibility determinations for assistance.State and local governments use the estimates for planning and budgetary purposes and to determine the need for local employment and training services.Private industry, researchers, the media, and other individuals use the data to assess localized labor market developments and make comparisons across areas. The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the source of the national unemployment rate. State monthly model-based estimates are controlled in "real time" to sum to national monthly employment and unemployment estimates from the CPS. These models combine current and historical data from the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, and state unemployment insurance (UI) systems. Estimates for seven large areas and their respective balances of state also are model-based. Estimates for counties are produced through a building-block approach known as the "Handbook method." This procedure also uses data from several sources, including the CPS, the CES program, state UI systems, and the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), to create estimates that are adjusted to the statewide measures of employment and unemployment. Estimates for cities are prepared using disaggregation techniques based on inputs from the ACS, annual population estimates, and current UI data.

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Manufacturing (MANEMP) from Jan 1939 to Sep 2025 about headline figure, establishment survey, manufacturing, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Level (CE16OV) from Jan 1948 to Sep 2025 about civilian, 16 years +, household survey, employment, and USA.

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program is a Federal-State cooperative program between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the California EDD’s Labor Market Information Division (LMID). The QCEW program produces a comprehensive tabulation of employment and wage information for workers covered by California Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and Federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. The QCEW program serves as a near census of monthly employment and quarterly wage information by 6-digit industry codes from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at the national, state, and county levels. At the national level, the QCEW program publishes employment and wage data for nearly every NAICS industry. At the state and local area level, the QCEW program publishes employment and wage data down to the 6-digit NAICS industry level, if disclosure restrictions are met. In accordance with the BLS policy, data provided to the Bureau in confidence are used only for specified statistical purposes and are not published. The BLS withholds publication of Unemployment Insurance law-covered employment and wage data for any industry level when necessary to protect the identity of cooperating employers. Data from the QCEW program serve as an important input to many BLS programs. The Current Employment Statistics and the Occupational Employment Statistics programs use the QCEW data as the benchmark source for employment. The UI administrative records collected under the QCEW program serve as a sampling frame for the BLS establishment surveys. In addition, the data serve as an input to other federal and state programs. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the Department of Commerce uses the QCEW data as the base for developing the wage and salary component of personal income. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and California's EDD use the QCEW data to administer the Unemployment Insurance program. The QCEW data accurately reflect the extent of coverage of California’s UI laws and are used to measure UI revenues; national, state and local area employment; and total and UI taxable wage trends. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes new QCEW data in its County Employment and Wages news release on a quarterly basis. The BLS also publishes a subset of its quarterly data through the Create Customized Tables system, and full quarterly industry detail data at all geographic levels. Disclaimer: For information regarding future updates or preliminary/final data releases, please refer to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Release Calendar: https://www.bls.gov/cew/release-calendar.htm

📊 Dataset Description:

This dataset is sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation – Table A-42. It provides detailed insights into employment and unemployment trends by educational attainment for individuals aged 25 years and older in the United States.

🌐 Source:

~**Publisher:** U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

~**Table Reference:** CPS Table A-42 – Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment

~**URL:** https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea42.htm

~**Update Frequency:** Monthly (as part of the Employment Situation release)

📑 Dataset Overview:

---The dataset includes:

~Year and Month of observation

~Employment and Unemployment counts

~Unemployment rates categorized by educational attainment, such as:

~Less than a high school diploma

~High school graduates, no college

~Some college or associate degree

~Bachelor’s degree and higher

🎯 Potential Uses:

~Analyze how education level impacts unemployment rates.

~Study long-term labor market trends across different demographics.

~Build forecasting models for employment/unemployment rates.

~Perform policy analysis to understand the role of education in job security.

⚠️ Notes:

~All values are based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the BLS.

~The dataset may contain seasonally adjusted and non-adjusted values.

~Numbers represent civilian noninstitutional population, 25 years and older.

Graph and download economic data for Job Openings: Total Nonfarm (JTSJOL) from Dec 2000 to Aug 2025 about job openings, vacancy, nonfarm, and USA.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) program conducts a semi-annual survey to produce estimates of employment and wages for specific occupations. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in order to produce employment and wage estimates for about 800 occupations. Data from self-employed persons are not collected and are not included in the estimates. The OES program produces these occupational estimates by geographic area and by industry. Estimates based on geographic areas are available at the National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces occupational employment and wage estimates for over 450 industry classifications at the national level. The industry classifications correspond to the sector, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industrial groups. More information and details about the data provided can be found at http://www.bls.gov/oes

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Wage and salary workers: Market and survey researchers occupations: 16 years and over (LEU0254481500A) from 2000 to 2010 about occupation, full-time, salaries, workers, 16 years +, wages, employment, and USA.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides national estimates of rates and levels for job openings, hires, and total separations. Total separations are further broken out into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Unadjusted counts and rates of all data elements are published by supersector and select sector based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The number of unfilled jobs—used to calculate the job openings rate—is an important measure of the unmet demand for labor. With that statistic, it is possible to paint a more complete picture of the U.S. labor market than by looking solely at the unemployment rate, a measure of the excess supply of labor. Information on labor turnover is valuable in the proper analysis and interpretation of labor market developments and as a complement to the unemployment rate. For more information and data visit: https://www.bls.gov/jlt/

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) is a set of statistics generated from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. These quarterly data series consist of gross job gains and gross job losses statistics from 1992 forward. These data help to provide a picture of the dynamic state of the labor market. For more information and data visit: https://www.bls.gov/bed/

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Total Private (USPRIV) from Jan 1939 to Sep 2025 about headline figure, establishment survey, private industries, private, employment, industry, and USA.

Employment Rate in the United States increased to 59.70 percent in September from 59.60 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for All Employees, Government (USGOVT) from Jan 1939 to Sep 2025 about establishment survey, government, employment, and USA.

Context

A striking graph from the Social Security Administration (https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/factsheets/at-a-glance/earnings-men-1988-2018.html) shows that median annual earnings for all men above the age of 20 have decreased since 1988: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/factsheets/at-a-glance/earnings-men-1988-2018.svg" alt="">

I wanted to better understand how educational attainment has played a role in the above trend, and to come up with a model to forecast the future trend for earnings by educational attainment.

As I began looking at the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, there was a striking trend: the median weekly earnings for all groups of people who did not have a bachelors degree or higher had decreased from 1979 levels, in constant 2020 dollars.

Content

I collated data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab4.htm) and (https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswktabs.htm) and the US Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html) to create this dataset.

I have omitted details of gender and race, to solely look at the correlation between educational attainment and median weekly earnings over the years. All of the data is for ages 25 and higher unless otherwise stated in the column header.

An important note is that all the earnings data are in constant base 2020 dollars. This removes the effects of inflation and makes it possible to compare the numbers over the years.

The data starts at the year 1960, but unfortunately only overall labor force data, and population percentages of persons with a high school graduation (HSG) and persons with a Bachelors or Higher Degree are available. Median weekly earnings data categorized by educational attainment is available from 1979 onwards, while labor force data i.e., labor force level, labor force participation rate and the employment level by educational attainment is available only from 1992 onwards.

The only columns that have data from 1960 onwards are: (i) overall labor force level, (ii) civilian non-institutional population level, (iii) overall labor force participation rate, (iv) overall employment level, (v) overall percentage of high school graduates, and (vi) overall percentage of persons with a bachelors degree or higher.

Some of the columns can be calculated from other columns, for instance the civilian non-institutional population level can be calculated from the labor force participation rate.

Acknowledgements

All of this data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Census Bureau: https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab4.htm , https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswktabs.htm and https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html .

A big thank you to all those who worked so hard to collect and organize this data.

Inspiration

The main question is: what is the best way to generate forecasts for median weekly earnings for each educational attainment level?

Introduction

As a part of the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate Program, this case study serves as a data analytics adventure and a way to dive into something personal. While many face the difficulty of finding employment out of college, it became especially tedious to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this case study revolves around unemployment trends from 2021 using data sourced from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. I used datasets surrounding unemployment and employment trends in 2021 to answer the following:

Questions

1. What methods for job searching were the most prevalent across age ranges? Across gender/race/Hispanic-Latino ethnicity?
2. What trends exist between and within the most prevalent venues for job searching among the unemployed?
3. What job sector(s) does the majority of the population comprise? What trends exist within and between the most popular job sector and the least popular job sector? What relationship do these factors have with race/gender/Hispanic-Latino ethnicity?
4. How does information about prevalent job searching influence the job market and the applicants in the job search phase?

Insights (see the data section below for charts, graphs, and the .Rmd file I utilized)

• In 2021, the unemployed, with ages ranging from 16-65, preferred resumes and applications as their method for seeking out jobs. This method was especially prevalent in the age range 16-34, where, the highest bracket of job seekers were 24-35 years old. A close second was contacting an employer directly, primarily used by 45-64-year-olds. When considering gender/ethnicity/race, however, compared to their male counterparts, white women and women of color were the highest users of the resumes and applications method. However, white males and men of color were the highest users of the contacting employers directly method.
• Among the unemployed resumes were overall the most prevalent method of applying for jobs in 2021, where, people aged 16--34 and women regardless of ethnicity/race were the most likely to utilize this method to search for jobs.
• The majority of the population resides in the "Management, Professional, and related occupations" job sector, with the least popular form of occupations being in the "Farming, Fishing, and Forestry" sector. This sentiment can be found almost across all genders/races/ethnicities, though, some other job sectors like "Production, transportation, and material moving occupations" and "Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations" were more prevalent concerning the Black/African American men, Hispanic/Latino women, and Hispanic/Latino men respectively.
• This information is highly useful for job industries, specifically, those in the "Management, Professional, and related occupations" sector. With this, industries in this job sector can project what their incoming job applicant pool may look like and how to prepare for making the application process more accessible. This information can also serve to reinforce fairness and inclusivity in the job application process and in the work environment.

** Overall**

Using this information a company can project in 2022-2023 the majority of applicants will either apply to jobs using resumes/applications, the majority of these applicants may be 16-34 years old, and women regardless of ethnicity and race. They can also look out for applicants who are older, 45-64 years old, and applicants who are men regardless of ethnicity and race, being more likely to contact them as an employer directly. If an employer prefers to be directly contacted, they should make sure to consider the difficulties that people of different race/ethnic/and gender identities may have done so, and, either should either make the job positing more welcoming and inclusive to do so or, be sure to include a process of hiring via resumes/applications in order to better represent the unemployed population seeking jobs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates employment and wage estimates for every state, Metropolitan Statistical Area and Balance-of-State area in the United States. In order to better meet the needs of local users, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) staff in the Texas Labor Market Information Department of the Texas Workforce Commission (LMI) has produced wage estimates for geographic areas not produced by BLS. Workforce Development Areas (WDAs) are not published by BLS and are not, therefore, official BLS data series. Due to confidentiality and quality criteria, LMI cannot produce estimates for every occupation in every geographic area.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force Level (CLF16OV) from Jan 1948 to Sep 2025 about civilian, 16 years +, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Labor force and unemployment estimates for States and local areas are developed by State workforce agencies to measure local labor market conditions under a Federal-State cooperative program. The Department of Labor develops the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures which are used by State agencies for preparation of labor force and unemployment estimates.