The 2010 Census: The employment impact of counting the Nation

Monthly Labor Review

Volumn 134, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 33-38

  Richards, Emily ^a  

^a BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS   (United States)

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EID: 79955921885     PISSN: 00981818     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (20)

1. See "One Year Out Facts/Statistics" (U.S. Census Bureau, no date), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/one-year-out/about-one-year-out/one-year-out-facts-statistics.html (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
2. The census will include everyone living in "all 50 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands." People will be counted at their usual place of residence on April 1, 2010. An accurate census count is necessary for many reasons. First and foremost, the population within a State determines the number of seats which that State holds within the U.S. House of Representatives. But also, the information obtained from the census is used to determine how Federal funding is spent on hospitals, job training centers, schools, senior centers, public-works projects, and emergency services.
3. (See "Why It's Important" (U.S. Census Bureau, no date), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/2010census/about/why-important.php (visited Mar. 8, 2011).)
4. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program is a monthly survey of about 140,000 businesses and government agencies representing approximately 440,000 individual worksites.
5. For more information on the program's concepts and methodology, see "Technical Notes to Establishment Data Published in Employment and Earnings" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mar. 4, 2011), on the Internet at www.bls.gov/web/empsit.supp.toc.htm#technote (visited Jan. 11, 2011).
6. To access CES data, see "Current Employment Statistics - CES (National)" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, no date), on the Internet at www.bls.gov/ces (visited Jan. 11, 2011). The CES data used in this article are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise noted.
7. Recessions are identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). According to the NBER, the most recent recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. The previous two recessions were, respectively, from March 2001 to November 2001 and from July 1990 to March 1991.
8. (See "U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions" (National Bureau of Economic Research, Sept. 20, 2010), on the Internet at www.nber.org/cycles/cyclesmain.html (visited Mar. 8, 2011).)
9. See "Address Canvassing Facts/Statistics" (U.S. Census Bureau, Oct. 21, 2010), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/one-year-out/address-canvasing/address-canvassing-facts- statistics.html (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
10. See "Nation Achieves 74 Percent Final Mail Participation in 2010 Census" (U.S. Census Bureau, Oct. 21, 2010), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/final-mail-participation.html (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
11. "Address Canvassing Facts/Statistics."
12. A peak is reached in the month in which the employment estimate changes from positive to negative. For example, during the 2010 Census, employment in the series continued to expand through its high in May before declining in June.
13. See "Nonresponse Follow-Up: Electronic Press Kit" (U.S. Census Bureau, no date), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/news/pdf/EPK_NRFU_FINAL.pdf (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
14. See "Non-response Follow Up Category: Quality Assurance and The 2010 Census" (U.S. Census Bureau, June 9, 2010), on the Internet at blogs.census.gov/2010census/non-response-follow-up/page/2 (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
15. See "What You Can Do: Stay Involved and Informed" (U.S. Census Bureau, no date), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/2010census/involved/index.php (visited Mar. 8, 2011).
16. The year 2011 marked the final phases of the Census Coverage Measurement Program, which entailed bringing on a relatively small number of employees for several months to review the effectiveness of the 2010 Census count. At the time of publication of this article, the program had gone on for 28 months, from November 2008 to February 2011.
17. (See "2010 Census Frequently Asked Questions: It's in Our Hands" (U.S. Census Bureau, May 10, 2010), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/partners/pdf/2010_TQA_Agent_FAQs_english.pdf (visited Mar. 14, 2011); and www.census.gov/coverage_measurement (visited Mar. 14, 2011).)
18. A trough is reached in the month in which employment changes from negative to positive. For example, total private employment continued to decline until February 2010, when it reached a low point, after which it began to increase.
19. November 2010 was the first time that hiring for the 2010 Census reached zero since the process began.
20. See "2010 Census: It's in Our Hands" (U.S. Census Bureau, no date), on the Internet at 2010.census.gov/partners/pdf/2010_acs_dropin.pdf (visited Mar. 8, 2011).