BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

The Bureau of Labor Statistics expanded its regular work during the past year and initiated several new programs. Among the major accomplishments of the year were (1) more intensive analysis of the trends in employment and unemployment, specifically during the critical phases of the 1960-61 recession, (2) continuing work looking toward the basic revision of the Consumer Price Index, (3) the preparation of a series of special reports on wage and industrial relations issues for the Presidential Railroad Commission as well as other executive and legislative agencies, and (4) further work in the measurement of productivity and the impact of technological change.

As the principal factfinding agency of the Federal Government in the field of labor economics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for work in the general field of employment and unemployment, wages, prices, industrial relations, productivity, and industrial hazards. The Bureau regularly publishes numerous statistical series which form the basic foundation of research and analytical work in these areas. In addition, the Bureau's activities include more specialized research studies to provide information needed by the Labor Department or other government agencies. Data collected by the Bureau are obtained from businessmen, workers, and government agencies on a voluntary basis. Information provided to the Bureau by individuals is treated on a confidential basis, and the Bureau is generally successful in winning a high degree of cooperation in obtaining the needed information.

The results of the Bureau's work are issued in regularly published reports, as well as a series of bulletins on special subjects. The Bureau is responsible for the publication of the Monthly Labor Review, which is widely recognized as a major publication in the field of labor economics.

The following summarizes more specifically the Bureau's activities for the year:

Staff Services

The Bureau provided a continuing analysis and evaluation of current economic developments, focusing primarily on trends affecting the labor situation. The resulting weekly reports and special memoranda were made available to appropriate officials in the Department and in other government agencies.

The Bureau continued to provide, at the direction of the Secretary, advice and assistance on statistical problems to the other bureaus of the

Department and furnished technical help to other groups as a representative of the Department. These activities included technical assistance to the (1) Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Disarmament in connection with the survey on the impact of arms control agreement and (2) the President's Railroad Commission in its study of the railroad industry. During the year, the method for determining seasonal factors, recently developed by the Bureau, was put in a form to permit its use by other government agencies and private organizations, many of which have availed themselves of this opportunity. Within the Labor Department, the method has been used to determine seasonal factors for a very large number of statistical series. Included are nearly 800 series which the Bureau of Employment Security uses to aid in the allocation of funds to States in connection with several unemployment insurance programs.

The Bureau undertook during the year a comprehensive and systematic review of its probable future data processing requirements and how these requirements could most efficiently be met in terms of the types of equipment now being offered. A program for the gradual introduction of more powerful and efficient data processing equipment has been adopted.

The number of requests for information made to the five regional offices of the Bureau increased sharply. Over 250,000 requests were answered, 50,000 more than in the previous year. In addition, the regional staff was very active in speaking to local groups on a wide variety of economic subjects.

Advisory Councils

The Bureau's two advisory councils, one representing specialists in economic research affiliated with business, and the other economists and statisticians from organized labor, completed the 14th year of continuous advisory service to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During fiscal year 1961, the Business Research Advisory Council consisted of 40 members appointed by the Commissioner upon nomination by the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The council met with the Bureau three times during the year. In addition to council members, 66 other individuals served on committees with substantive interest in the measurement of total construction employment, foreign labor conditions, manpower and employment statistics, consumer and wholesale prices, productivity and technological developments, wages and industrial relations, and work injuries.

The Labor Research Advisory Council continued to provide advice on the Bureau's immediate and long-run programs on the numerous basic technical problems which constantly arise in the Bureau's activities, and to insure understanding and widespread use of the Bureau's statistical series and analytical reports. The council consists of 10 members nominated by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. All research directors of international unions represented in the

AFL-CIO, Railway Labor Executives' Association, and the railroad operating unions are invited to attend the general meetings of the council. The council held two meetings during the fiscal year, and all of the committees of the council met at least once, for a total of 11 committee meetings.

Manpower and Employment Analysis

The Bureau has the responsibility for the collection, analysis, and publication of all current information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The Bureau's work in this general area also includes studies of the outlook for employment in specific occupations and industries. There are two basic sources for these data: (1) payroll reports from business firms to the Bureau giving monthly employment, hours, earnings and turnover data; and (2) a monthly survey of a national sample of households, conducted and tabulated by the Bureau of the Census.

Employment, Hours, and Earnings

The 1960-61 recession and the widespread concern with unemployment have focused attention on Bureau activities relating to employment, hours, and earnings. During the past year, the Bureau has been active not only in supplying the normally published information, but also in providing special analyses for the consideration of appropriate public policies.

The current employment statistics and labor turnover programs are cooperative projects operated jointly by the Bureau and cooperating State agencies. Through contracts with the States, the program yields comparable national, State, and metropolitan area statistics from a single survey. In fiscal 1961, a contract was signed for the development of a program in the State of Hawaii, and cooperative employment, hours, and earnings programs now exist in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Employment, hours, and earnings series are published for all States except Hawaii. Employment series are available for 140 metropolitan areas and hours and earnings for 126 areas.

Seasonally adjusted series on average weekly hours were introduced in the July 1960 issue of Employment and Earnings, and are now published regularly. These data are among the leading economic indicators established by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Bureau has compiled labor turnover rates on a national basis since 1929. Beginning in 1956, funds were made available for establishing a cooperative Federal-State labor turnover program similar to the already existing arrangement for joint compilation of employment statistics. Labor turnover rates now are published for 38 States and 68 metropolitan

areas.

Major resources of the employment statistics program have been directed toward converting the employment, hours and earnings, and labor turn

over statistics to the revised Standard Industrial Classification issued by the Bureau of the Budget in 1957. During the transition period, it has been necessary to continue monthly preparation of the presently existing series, while engaged in retabulating and compiling statistics on the 1957 SIC structure from 1958 forward. The conversion of the national series will be completed in fiscal 1962; data for States and areas have already been converted to the new classification system.

Employment and Unemployment Analysis

To speed up the release of the summary figures on unemployment, an advance report is now released that presents the major totals from the monthly sample survey of the labor force within 10 days after the completion of field work by the Bureau of the Census. The complete analysis, which includes the highlights of the payroll reports, is published the following week in the Monthly Report on the Labor Force. This year, the text of the Monthly Report was expanded to cover many of the current labor force problems. Complete and detailed tables, including information on employment, hours, earnings, and labor turnover, are published later each month in Employment and Earnings.

In addition to the monthly reports, a series of special reports provide more detailed analyses of current issues or present supplementary information collected from time to time in connection with the monthly labor force survey.

During the past year, 12 special reports were issued on such subjects as the employment of students, family characteristics of workers, multiple jobholders, part-time workers, white-collar employment, employment of high school graduates, and long-term unemployment.

In order to answer many questions about unemployment, a chart book, "Who Are the Unemployed?," was prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Employment Security.

In addition to the coverage in the published reports, current employment and unemployment problems were analyzed for congressional testimony and the Council of Economic Advisers. Short-term projections were also prepared for the use of the Council, the Secretary, and others. Long-term population and labor force projections were prepared for the use of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Committee.

Working relations with the Bureau of the Census on the Monthly Report on the Labor Force continued on a highly satisfactory basis, and improvements in the program data collection and tabulation were achieved. Cooperative plans were made for updating the 330-area sample to take account of the results of the 1960 Population Census.