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25th percentile wages - Twenty-five percent of the workers in an occupation earn wages below this level; seventy-five percent of the workers in the occupation earn wages above it.
75th percentile wages - Seventy-five percent of the workers in an occupation earn wages below this level; twenty-five percent of the workers in the occupation earn wages above it.
A
Area Development Districts (ADDs) - The Area Development Districts are designed to function as locally focused sub-state districts. The fifteen ADDs in Kentucky encompass anywhere from five to seventeen counties each and provide a system of complete coverage to all 120 counties.
ALC Entry Wage - Entry wage is defined as the mean of the lower third of the population. This wage is primarily used in the Alien Wage Certification (ALC) program and is listed as Level 1 wages for that program.
ALC Experienced Wage - Experienced wage is defined as the mean of the population. This wage is primarily used in the Alien Wage Certification (ALC) program and is listed as Level 2 for that program.
B
Benchmark - A point of reference (either an estimate or a count) from which measurements can be made or upon which adjustments to estimates are based.
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) - The BEA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The bureau is part of the Department's Economics and Statistics Administration and serves to produce and disseminate economic account statistics that provide government, businesses, households, and individuals with a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of economic activity.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - Part of the U.S. Department of Labor, this Federal agency is the principal data-gathering agency of the Federal government in the field of economics. The BLS collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates data relating to employment, unemployment, the labor force, productivity, prices, family expenditures, wages, industrial relations, and occupational safety and health. Well known data released by the BLS include: the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, the unemployment rate, and nonagricultural employment levels.
Bureau of the Census (BOC) - Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This agency conducts the censuses of population and housing every 10 years and of agriculture, business, governments, manufacturers, mineral industries, and transportation at 5-year intervals. The Census Bureau also conducts the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data from this survey are the source of unemployment statistics.
C
Career development - Career development refers to “the outcome of actions on career plans as viewed from both individuals and organizational perspectives”. The outcomes desired by individuals range from status to job flexibility to monetary rewards, depending on the situation. The desired outcomes of organizations include achieving the best match between people and jobs.
Census - A complete count of a specified population or some measurable characteristics in a given area such as housing, industry, etcetera.
Civilian - Not in the military.
Civilian labor force - The sum of civilian individuals who are 16 years old or older and are either employed or counted as unemployed. This category does not include the military.
Civilian unemployment - All civilians 16 years and over who did not work during the survey week, made specific efforts to find a job within the past four weeks, and who were available for work (except for temporary illness) during the survey week. Also included as unemployed are those who did not work at all but were available for work, and:
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were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off for a specific time
or
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had a new job to go to within thirty days.
Civilian unemployment rate - The civilian unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the total civilian unemployment by the civilian labor force. The result is expressed as a percentage.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) - A Bureau of Labor Statistics program which measures the average change in prices of a fixed set of goods and services purchased by households. It is the most commonly recognized measure of inflation.
County - The largest territorial division for local government.
Cost of Living - A Cost of Living Index measures differences in the price of goods and services and allows for substitutions to other items as prices change. A Consumer Price Index measures a price change for a constant market basket of goods and services from one period to the next within the same city (or in the nation). The CPI is not a true cost of living index and should not be used for place to place comparisons.
CPI - Consumer Price Index.
Crosswalk - A method that provides a means of matching components of different systems.
Current Employment Statistics (CES) - Statistics based on monthly survey of non-farm business establishments. The numbers include wage and salary employment, worker hours and payroll by industry and area statistics. Through a Federal/State cooperative effort, these data are used to compute current monthly employment, hours and earnings estimates, by industry, for the nation, the 50 states & the District of Columbia and over 250 Metropolitan Areas.
Current Population Statistics (CPS) - Monthly household survey of the civilian non-institutional population of the United States. The survey provides monthly statistics on employment, unemployment, and related subjects. The data are analyzed and published each month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
D
Data - Factual information used as a basis for reasoning, discussion or calculation.
Database - A collection of information organized so that a computer program can quickly select desired data. Think of a database as an electronic filing system.
Demand - In labor market information, this term is usually used in reference to the need for workers in a particular occupation, or workers with specific skills.
Demographics - The characteristics of the population such as age, income, ethnicity, etc.
Department of Labor (DOL) - Cabinet-level U.S. agency that enforces laws protecting workers, promotes labor-management cooperation, sponsors employment and training placement services, oversees the unemployment insurance system, and produces statistics on the labor force and living conditions.
E
Employment - All civilian workers 16 years and older who
(a) during the survey week did any work at all as paid employees or in their own businesses or profession on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family enterprise; or
(b) were not working but had jobs or business from which they were temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor management disputes, personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off.
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) - A part of the U.S. Department of Labor. This agency oversees the State Unemployment Insurance Programs and job training and placement services provided by the State Employment Security Agencies.
Entry-level - Jobs or occupations for which employers hire workers with little or no previous work experience or with relatively minimum training or education. Occupations that require more education or training may have specific entry-level classifications such as “apprenticeship” or “internship.”
Entry wage - Shows what percentage of workers in an occupation earn less than a given wage and what percentage earn more. For example, a 10th percentile wage of $15.00 indicates that 10% of workers in a given occupation or in a given area earn less than $15.00; therefore 90% of workers earn more than $15.00.
Establishment - The physical location of a certain economic activity, for example, a factory, store, or office. Generally a single establishment produces a single good or provides a single service.
Estimated employment - Estimated employment represents the estimated number of people in an industry or occupation.
Experience level wage - The median wage of experienced employees in an occupation extracted from among the top two thirds of employee wages, used as an estimate of a typical occupational wage for experienced employees, excluding entry and lower-end wages.
F
Forecast - To calculate or predict some future event or condition usually as a result of study and analysis of available pertinent data.
G
Goods producing industries (SIC) - Includes manufacturing, mining, and construction.
H
I
Industry - A group of establishments that produce similar products or provide similar services. Note: The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system has been replaced by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) beginning with the release of data for 2001. Industry data for 2001 are not comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. Refer to North American Industry Classification System.
Industry employment - Full-time and part-time workers (including employees on paid vacation or paid sick leave) who work or receive compensation from establishments for any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month. Those workers involved in labor-management disputes are excluded. This is a count of the number of jobs, and is available by industry.
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L
Labor dispute - Any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
Labor market information (LMI) - Information about the market -where labor skills are exchanged for wages. Information can be descriptive (qualitative) or statistical (quantitative). The key elements in the labor market are the workers (labor resources) and jobs (employment opportunities).
LMI - Labor Market Information.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) - A Federal/State cooperative program which produces employment, labor force and unemployment estimates for States and local areas.
M
Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) Program - This is a Federal-State cooperative effort to identify, describe, and track the effects of major jobs cutbacks using each State’s unemployment insurance database. The program has reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs.
Mean wage - The average of wages over a three-year cycle for an occupation. An occupational mean wage estimate is calculated by summing the wages of all the employees in a given occupation and then dividing the total wages by the number of employees.
Median wage - The boundary between the highest paid 50% and the lowest paid 50% of workers in that occupation. Half of the workers in a given occupation earn more than the median wage, and half the workers earn less than the median wage.
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) - A Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is a relatively freestanding metropolitan area (MA) typically surrounded by non-metropolitan counties.
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) - The general concept of an MSA is one of a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities which have a high degree of economic and social integration within that nucleus. These are defined by the Office of Management and Budget as a standard for Federal agencies in the preparation and publication of statistics relating to metropolitan areas.
Mill rate - The tax per dollar of assessed value of property. The rate is expressed in "mills", where one mill is one-tenth of a cent ($0.001).
Mode - The number in a distribution of numbers that appears most frequently.
N
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the successor to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the United States, Canada, and Mexico to use a standard system of classifying business establishments. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, industry data for 2001 are not comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced.
Not seasonally adjusted - This term is used to describe data series not subject to the seasonal adjustment process. In other words, the effects of regular (or seasonal) patterns have not been removed from these series.
O
O*NET - Refer to Occupational Information Network.
OES (Occupational Employment Statistics) Program - A Federal/State cooperative program produces employment and wage estimates for over 700 occupations.
Occupation - A set of activities or tasks that employees perform. Employees that perform the same tasks are in the same occupation, whether or not they are in the same industry.
Occupational information - specific information about a particular occupation, such as wages, skills required, benefits, entrance requirements, etcetera.
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) - The Occupational Information Network is a comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics.
Outlook - An expectation for the future.
P
Percent reporting occupation - This represents the percent of employers in the OES survey that reported an occupation.
Percentile wage estimate - Shows what percentage of workers in an occupation earn less than a given wage and what percentage earn more. For example:
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25th percentile wage - A 25th percentile wage of $15.00 indicates that 25% of workers (in a given occupation in a given area) earn less than $15.00; therefore 75% of workers earn more than $15.00.
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75th percentile wage - A 75th percentile wage of $15.00 indicates that 75% of workers (in a given occupation in a given area) earn less than $15.00; therefore 25% of workers earn more than $15.00.
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90th percentile wage - A 90th percentile wage of $15.00 indicates that 90% of workers (in a given occupation in a given area) earn less than $15.00; therefore 10% of workers earn more than $15.00.
Population - The total number of inhabitants occupying an area.
Projections - An estimate of a future occurrence, event or activity based on historical evidence of past experience. Projections of employment are based on historical employment statistics, cyclical and structural factors, and estimates of economic growth, trends in the U.S., State, and regional characteristics that are likely to affect the region’s economy.
Q
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program - This program produces employment and wage data for workers covered by State unemployment insurance laws and Federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees Program.
R
Relative standard error of the employment estimate (RSE) - The relative standard error is a measure of the reliability of the employment estimate. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.
Relative standard error of the wage estimate (RSE) - The relative standard error is a measure of the reliability of the wage estimate. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.
Replacement - Openings resulting from people leaving an occupation.
S
Salary - Fixed compensation paid for labor or services. Most salaries are paid for a fixed periods of working hours.
Sample - A finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole.
Seasonal factors - Seasonal factors are events that cause normal fluctuations in business activity within individual or combinations of industries. Seasonal factors include, but are not limited to, such events as: weather conditions, holidays, and school schedules.
Seasonally adjusted - Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year. These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other non-seasonal movements in a data series.
Services producing industries (SIC) - Includes transportation, communications, electric, gas, and sanitary services; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance insurance and real estate; and all other services.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) - The Standard Industrial Classification system was a hierarchical classification system that defined all establishments to a specific industry based on their primary output or product. For over sixty years, the SIC system served as the structure for classifying industries. The system was replaced by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) to better reflect the economy’s changing industrial composition. Refer to North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) - A numerical coding system that classifies occupational data for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of over 820 occupations according to heir occupational definition. To facilitate classification, occupations are combined to form 23 major groups, 96 minor groups, and 449 broad occupations. Each broad occupation includes detailed occupations requiring similar skills, education, or experience.
Survey - A study of all or a portion of the whole, conducted for purposes of making generalized statements about the whole.
Survey week - The seven-day period, Sunday through Saturday, that includes the 12th of the month and depicts labor market activities during that week.
T
Trainee - An individual hired for a job, which may or may not require previous experience or education. A trainee could start in an entry-level, apprenticeship level, or internship level position.
Trend - The persistent underlying movement that takes place over a period of time. It is the basic growth or decline that would occur if no variations in activity existed.
U
Unemployed persons - Persons 16 years and over who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work (except for illness), and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the four week period ending with the reference week. Persons 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.
Unemployment rate - The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the labor force.
V
W
Wage and salary employment - Full-time and part-time workers (including employees on paid vacation or paid sick leave) who work or receive compensation from establishments for any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month. Those workers involved in labor-management disputes are excluded. This is a count of the number of jobs, and is available by industry.
Wages - A payment, usually of money, for labor or services performed.
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) - This 1998 Act provides the framework for a unique national system. The most important aspect of the Act is its focus on meeting the needs of businesses for skilled workers and the training, education, and employment needs of individuals. Key components of the Act will: enable customers to easily access information and services they need through the “One-Stop” system; empower adults to obtain the training they find most appropriate through Individual Training Accounts; and ensure that all State and local programs meet customer expectations.
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