Glossary of Terms

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A

Affirmative Action
A program that became law with the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. This Act was an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which originally outlawed discrimination in employment practices. The Act requires employers, labor unions, employment agencies, and labor-management apprenticeship programs to make an affirmative effort to eliminate discrimination against and increase employment of females and minorities.

Aggregation
Combining statistical relatives from one level to the next higher level.

Agricultural Employment
Persons who work as owners and operators of farms, as unpaid family workers on farms and as hired workers who are engaged in farm activities.

Alien Labor Certification - see Foreign Labor Certification

ALMIS
America's Labor Market Information System - see Workforce Information Database

American Community Survey (ACS)
The American Community Survey is a large, continuous demographic survey conducted by the Census Bureau that will eventually provide accurate and up-to-date profiles of America's communities every year. Questionnaires are mailed to a sample of addresses to obtain information about persons and housing units. The survey produces annual and multi-year estimates of population and housing characteristics and produces data for small areas, including tracts and population subgroups. Questions asked are similar to those on the decennial census long form.

Applicant
A person who registers with a local Employment Security office to seek employment or obtain employability development services. Applicants remain "active" until they are placed in a permanent job or in training or as long as they continue to actively seek services from a local employment security office.

Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a combination of on-the-job training and related instruction in which workers learn the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation. Apprenticeship programs can be sponsored by trade unions and labor groups, individual employers and employer associations. The eligible starting age can be as young as 16 years of age, but varies depending on the occupation. Program sponsors may also identify additional minimum qualifications and credentials to apply such as education, aptitude tests, interviews, ability to physically perform the essential functions of the occupation, and previous work experience.

Associate's degree
An award that normally requires at least two but less than four years of full-time equivalent college work.

Average family size
A measure obtained by dividing the number of members of families by the total number of families.

Average household size
A measure obtained by dividing the number of people in households by the total number of households.

Average weekly earnings (CES/BLS-790 Program)
Average total money earnings in non-farm employment during the survey week of production workers, construction workers, or non-supervisory workers in the service sector. Earnings are reported before deductions of any kind, and include pay for overtime, holidays, vacations, and sick leave paid directly by the firm.

Average weekly wages (QCEW Program)
Total wages paid by employers divided by average employment and further divided by the number of weeks in the reference period.

B

Bachelor's degree
An award (baccalaureate or equivalent degree, as determined by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education) that normally requires at least four but not more than five years of full-time equivalent college-level work. This includes all bachelor's degrees conferred in a five-year cooperative (work-study) program. A cooperative plan provides for alternate class attendance and employment in business, industry, or government; thus, it allows students to combine actual work experience with their college studies. Also includes bachelor's degrees in which the normal four years of work are completed in three years.

Base period
A selected period of time, frequently one year, against which changes to other points in time are calculated (also see Index Number).

Benchmarking
The process of re-estimating statistics as more complete data become available. New benchmarking levels are introduced on an annual basis.
Reports: Local Area Unemployment Statistics Benchmark

Benefits
Non-wage compensation provided to employees such as paid leave (vacations, holidays, sick leave); supplementary pay (premium pay for overtime and work on holidays and weekends, shift differentials, non-production bonuses); retirement (defined benefit and defined contribution plans); insurance (life insurance, health benefits, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance) and legally required benefits (Social Security and Medicare, Federal and State unemployment insurance taxes, and workers' compensation).

Biannual
Occurring or being done twice each year.

Biennial
Occurring or being done every other year, such as in odd- or even-numbered years.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
The U.S. government's principal data-gathering agency in the field of labor economics. The agency collects and analyses data on labor requirements, the labor force, employment and unemployment, hours of work, wages and other compensation, prices, living conditions, labor-management relations, productivity, technological developments, occupational safety and health, etc. The majority of data collected by BLS is supplied voluntarily by workers, businesses, and government agencies.

Business cycle
A pattern of fluctuation in economic activity, characterized by alternate expansion and contraction. Economists distinguish four phases: (1) expansion, (2) contraction, (3) depression or recession, and (4) recovery.

C

Census
A complete enumeration, usually of a population, but also of businesses and commercial establishments, farms, governments, and so forth.

Census block
A subdivision of a census tract (or, prior to 2000, a block numbering area), a block is the smallest geographic unit for which the Census Bureau tabulates 100-percent data. Many blocks correspond to individual city blocks bounded by streets, but blocks - especially in rural areas - may include many square miles and may have some boundaries that are not streets. The Census Bureau established blocks covering the entire nation for the first time in 1990. Previous censuses back to 1940 had blocks established only for part of the nation. Over 8 million blocks are identified for Census 2000.

Census Designated Place (CDP)
A statistical entity, defined for each decennial census according to Census Bureau guidelines, comprising a densely settled concentration of population that is not within an incorporated place, but is locally identified by a name. CDPs are delineated cooperatively by state and local officials and the Census Bureau, following Census Bureau guidelines.

Census tract
A small, relatively permanent statistical subdivision of a county delineated by a local committee of census data users for the purpose of presenting data. Census tract boundaries normally follow visible features, but may follow governmental unit boundaries and other non-visible features in some instances; they always nest within counties. Designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions at the time of establishment, census tracts average about 4,000 inhabitants. They may be split by any sub-county geographic entity.

Census, decennial
The census of population and housing, taken by the Census Bureau in years ending in 0 (zero). Article I of the Constitution requires that a census be taken every ten years for the purpose of reapportioning the U.S. House of Representatives.

Census, economic
Collective name for the censuses of construction, manufactures, minerals, minority- and women-owned businesses, retail trade, service industries, transportation, and wholesale trade, conducted by the Census Bureau every five years, in years ending in 2 and 7.

Central city
The largest place or places within a designated Metropolitan area, Metropolitan area Division, or Micropolitan area.

Civil jurisdiction
Any city with a population of at least 25,000 or any county minus any city within the county that qualifies separately as a civil jurisdiction.

Civilian institutional population
The institutional population is comprised of people residing in the following types of institutions: penal institutions, mental institutions, sanitariums, homes for the aged or infirm, and homes for the needy.

Civilian labor force
That portion of the population age sixteen and older which is either employed or unemployed and actively seeking employment, excluding members of the armed forces and the institutionalized population.
Report: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Civilian noninstitutional population
Included are persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are not inmates of institutions (for example, penal and mental facilities, homes for the aged), and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces.

Claimant
An individual who has filed a request for determination of unemployment benefit eligibility.

Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP)
A taxonomy of instructional programs and descriptions that supports the accurate tracking, assessment, and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity. Last revised in 2000.

Combined statistical areas
A group of metropolitan and/or micropolitan areas combined into a single area for statistical and analytic purposes.

Commuting patterns
Refers to worker flows between municipalities, counties, and/or states; tracking where people reside in comparison to where those people are employed. Data representing commuting patterns is collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Also known as worker flow or journey to work data.

Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) of 1973
OBSOLETE. A federal job training program which was superceded by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1983, since superceded by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998.

Congressional district (CD)
The 435 areas established by law for the election of representatives to the United States Congress. Each CD is to be as equal in population to all other CDs in the state as practicable, based on the decennial census counts. The number of CDs in each state may change after each decennial census, and the boundaries may be changed more than once during a decade. In the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, a single CD is created consisting of the entire area. The representative is termed a delegate or resident commissioner, respectively and does not have voting rights in Congress.

Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA)
OBSOLETE. A large metropolitan statistical area with a population of one million or more which is subdivided into two or more primary metropolitan statistical areas.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)
A price index constructed monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that provides a statistical measure of the average change in prices in a fixed market basket of goods and services. It is frequently called a cost-of-living index, however, it is not a complete cost-of-living measure. CPI for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) - covers approximately 80 percent of the total noninstitutional, civilian population of the United States.

Contingent workers (Current Population Survey)
Those workers who do not have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment.

Continued weeks claimed
The number of weeks of benefits claimed, including weeks for which a waiting period or fixed disqualification period is being served.

Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA)
A collective term for both metropolitan (metro) and micropolitan (micro) areas. A metro area contains a core urban area of 50,000 or more population, and a micro area contains an urban core of at least 10,000 (but less than 50,000) population. Each metro or micro area consists of one or more counties and includes the counties containing the core urban area, as well as any adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting to work) with the urban core.

Cost of living
A cost of living index measures changes to the prices of goods and services over time, and allows for substitutions to other items as prices change. Consumer Price Indexes measure price changes for constant market baskets of goods and services from one period to the next; and may be region specific or may measure a specific category, such as energy. Consumer Price Indexes are not a true cost of living indexes and should not be used for place to place comparisons.

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
Annual adjustments to salaries, transfer payments and annuities to reflect changes in the cost of living due to inflation. COLA increases are usually mandated by law, policy or contract.

County Subdivision
Primary divisions of counties and equivalent entities. They include census county divisions, census subareas, minor civil divisions, and unorganized territories and can be classified as either legal or statistical.

Covered employment
Employment in any industry insured under the provisions of the New Hampshire Unemployment Compensation Law or subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employee (UCFE) program.

Current Employment Statistics (CES)
Estimates of non-farm wage and salary employment and production workers' hours and earnings by industry. The estimates are produced monthly in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as part of a nationwide program for each state and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) from a sample of employing establishments.

Current Population Survey (CPS)
A national household survey conducted each month by the Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Information is gathered from a sample of about 60,000 households nationwide, designed to represent the civilian non-institutional population of persons 16 years of age and over. Some CPS data are incorporated into the state and area labor force estimating procedures (LAUS) to improve interstate comparability.

Cyclical industry
An industry whose sales and profits reflect, to a great extent, the ups and downs of the business cycle. Practically all of the capital goods industries (steel, machine tools, etc.) are cyclical because a moderate decline in demand may eliminate the demand for the capital goods needed to make the product.

Cyclical unemployment
Unemployment that is caused by periodic declines in business activity that give rise to an inadequate demand for workers.

D

Decennial
Occurring or being done every 10 years.

Decennial census
The census of population and housing, taken by the Census Bureau in years ending in 0 (zero). Article I of the Constitution requires that a census be taken every ten years for the purpose of reapportioning the U.S. House of Representatives. Title 13 of the U. S. Code provides the authorization for conducting the census in Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.

Deflator
A value that allows data to be measured over time in terms of some base period, or, in more obscure terms, an implicit or explicit price index used to distinguish between those changes in the money value of gross national product which result from a change in prices and those which result from a change in physical output. The import and export price indexes produced by the International Price Program are used as deflators in the U.S. national accounts. For example, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) consists of Consumption Expenditures+ Net Investment + Government Expenditures + Exports - Imports. Various price indexes are used to "deflate" each component of the GDP in order to make the GDP figures comparable over time. Import price indexes are used to deflate the Import component (i.e. Import Volume is divided by the Import Price index) and the Export price indexes are used to deflate the Export component (i.e. Export Volume is divided by the Export Price index).

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
OBSOLETE. An occupational classification structure for jobs observed in the American economy, using a standard method of grouping jobs based on the function performed, the tools used, the persons served, the techniques used, and the product or service provided. This taxonomy has been largely replaced by other occupational classification systems, such as the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and O*Net, the Occupational Information Network, a comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics and the official replacement for the DOT.

Disability
A long-lasting physical, mental, or emotional condition. This condition can make it difficult for a person to do activities such as walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, learning, or remembering. This condition can also impede a person from being able to go outside the home alone or to work at a job or business.

Discouraged workers
These are persons who have no employment, want a job and are available to work; and have looked for work during the past year, but not in the last four weeks because they believe that no jobs are available to them.

Discouraged workers (Current Population Survey)
Persons not in the labor force during the reference week, who want and are available for a job, have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months (or since the end of their last job if they held one within the past 12 months), but have not actively searched for work during the four weeks prior to the survey because they believe there are no jobs available or none for which they would qualify. Discouraged workers are classified as not in the labor force and are not included among the unemployed because they have not made specific efforts to find work.

Dislocated workers
As defined under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, an individual who meets one of the following four criteria:
(a) Has been terminated or laid off, or received notice of same; and is eligible for or has exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation or has demonstrated attachment to the workforce but is not eligible for unemployment compensation; and is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation.
(b) Has been terminated or laid off, or has received notice of same, as a result of permanent closure or substantial layoff at a plant, facility or enterprise; or is employed at a facility at which employer has made a general announcement that such facility will close within 180 days; or for purposes of receiving certain services, is employed at a facility at which the employer has made a general announcement that such facility will close.
(c) Was self-employed but is unemployed as a result of general economic conditions in the community in which the individual resides or because of natural disasters.
(d) Is a displaced homemaker.

Displaced homemaker
An individual who has been providing unpaid services to family members in the home and who has been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income; and is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.

Displaced workers (Current Population Survey)
Persons 20 years of age and over who lost or left jobs because their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished.

Disposable income
The income that is available to persons for spending and saving. It is calculated as personal income less the sum of personal tax payments and personal non-tax payments to Federal, State, and local governments.

Doctor's degree
The highest award a student can earn for graduate study. The doctor's degree classification includes such degrees as Doctor of Education, Doctor of Juridical Science, Doctor of Public Health, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in any field such as agronomy, food technology, education, engineering, public administration, ophthalmology, or radiology.

Doctor's degree - other
A doctor's degree that does not meet the definition of a doctor's degree - research/scholarship or a doctor's degree - professional practice.

Doctor's degree - professional practice
A doctor's degree that is conferred upon completion of a program providing the knowledge and skills for the recognition, credential, or license required for professional practice. The degree is awarded after a period of study such that the total time to the degree, including both pre-professional and professional preparation, equals at least six full-time equivalent academic years. Some of these degrees were formerly classified as "first-professional" and may include: Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.); Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.); Law (L.L.B. or J.D.); Medicine (M.D.); Optometry (O.D.); Osteopathic Medicine (D.O); Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); Podiatry (D.P.M., Pod.D., D.P.); or, Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), and others, as designated by the awarding institution.

Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
A Ph.D. or other doctor's degree that requires advanced work beyond the master's level, including the preparation and defense of a dissertation based on original research, or the planning and execution of an original project demonstrating substantial artistic or scholarly achievement. Some examples of this type of degree may include Ed.D., D.M.A., D.B.A., D.Sc., D.A., or D.M, and others, as designated by the awarding institution.

Domestic products
Goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States.

Durable goods
Items with a normal life expectancy of three years or more. Automobiles, furniture, household appliances, and mobile homes are examples. Because of their nature, expenditures for durable goods are generally postponable. Consequently, durable goods sales are the most volatile component of consumer expenditures.

Duration of unemployment (Current Population Survey)
The length of time in weeks (through the current reference week) that persons classified as unemployed had been looking for work. For persons on layoff who are counted as unemployed, duration of unemployment represents the number of full weeks they had been on layoff. The data do not represent completed spells of unemployment.

E

Earnings
Remuneration (pay, wages) of a worker or group of workers for services performed during a specific period of time. The term invariably carries a defining word or a combination; e.g., straight-time average hourly earnings. Since a statistical concept is usually involved in the term and its variations, the producers and users of earnings data have an obligation to define them. The period of time to which earnings figures, as stated or computed, relate includes hourly, daily, weekly, and annual. The context in which annual earnings (sometimes weekly earnings) are used may indicate whether the reference includes earnings from one employer only or from all employment plus other sources of income.

Earnings, average
Usually the arithmetic mean; that is, total earnings (as defined) of a group of workers (as identified) divided by the number of workers in the group.

Earnings, gross
Usually total earnings, before any deductions (such as tax withholding) including, where applicable, overtime payments, shift differentials, production bonuses, cost-of-living allowances, commissions, etc.

Earnings, straight-time
Usually gross earnings excluding overtime payments and (with variations at this point) shift differentials and other monetary payments.

Econometric model
A set of related equations used to analyze economic data through mathematical and statistical techniques. Such models are devised to depict the essential quantitative relationships that determine the behavior of output, income, employment, and prices. Econometric models are used for forecasting, for estimating the likely quantitative impact of alternative assumptions (including those pertaining to government policies), and for testing various theories about the way the economy works.

Economic indicators
A set of data that serves as a tool for analyzing current economic conditions and future prospects. Usually classified according to their timing in relationship to the ups and downs of the business cycle, that is, whether they anticipate (lead), coincide with, or lag behind general business conditions.

Economic indicators: Coincident
Measure current economic performance. Their movements coincide roughly with total economic activity. Employees on nonagricultural payroll, industrial production and manufacturing and trade sales are examples.

Economic indicators: Lagging
Move up or down after general business activity has altered its course. Examples are average duration of unemployment, average prime rate, and consumer price index for services.

Economic indicators: Leading
Signal in advance a change in the basic pattern of economic performance. Examples are average weekly hours for Manufacturing, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, new private building permits, and common stock prices. These indicators move ahead of turns in the business cycle. For this reason, they provide significant clues to future shifts in the general direction of business activity.

Economic time series
A set of data collected over regular time intervals (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) which measures some aspect of economic activity. The data may measure a large grouping such as Gross Domestic Product, or a narrow segment such as auto sales or the price of a commodity.

Economically disadvantaged
A person who meets one or more of the following criteria. (1) A member of a family which receives public assistance. (2) A member of a family whose income during the previous six months on an annualized basis was such that (a) the family would have qualified for public assistance, if it applied, or (b) family income is below the poverty level, or (c) family income is less than 70 percent of the lower living standard income level. (3) A foster child on whose behalf state or local government payments are made, or (4) an individual with significant barriers to employment because the individual is (a) a client of a sheltered workshop, or (b) a handicapped individual, or (c) a person residing in an institution or facility providing 24-hour support such as a prison, a hospital or community care facility. (d) A regular outpatient of a mental hospital, rehabilitation facility, or similar institution.

Educational attainment
The highest diploma or degree, or level of work towards a diploma or degree, an individual has completed.

Employed persons
Persons 16 years and over in the civilian noninstitutional population who worked for pay any time during the week; worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; worked unpaid for 15 hours or more in a family-owned business; or were temporarily absent from their jobs due to illness, bad weather, vacation, labor dispute, or personal reasons. Excluded are persons whose only activity consists of work around the house and volunteer work for religious, charitable, and similar organizations.
Report: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Employed persons (Current Population Survey)
Persons 16 years and over in the civilian noninstitutional population who, during the reference week, (a) did any work at all (at least 1 hour) as paid employees, worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family, and (b) all those who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job. Excluded are persons whose only activity consisted of work around their own house (painting, repairing, or own home housework) or volunteer work for religious, charitable, and other organizations.

Employer
A person or business that employs one or more people for wages or salary; the legal entity responsible for payment of quarterly unemployment insurance taxes or for reimbursing the state fund for unemployment insurance benefits costs in lieu of paying the quarterly taxes.

Employer Identification Number (EIN)
A 9-digit identification number assigned to employers by the U.S Internal Revenue Service.

Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
A part of the U.S. Department of Labor. This agency oversees the State UI programs and job training and placement services provided by State Employment Security Agencies.

Employment costs (Employment Cost Index)
Often referred to as total compensation cost. The National Compensation Survey program publishes data on trends in employment costs, including quarterly and annual percent changes in labor cost (Employment Cost Index) and employer costs per hour worked for each component of compensation (Employer Cost for Employee Compensation).

Employment interchange measure
A measure of ties between two adjacent entities. The employment interchange measure is the sum of the percentage of employed residents in the smaller entity who work in the larger entity and the percentage of employment in the smaller entity that is accounted for by workers who reside in the larger entity.

Establishment
The physical location of a certain economic activity, for example, a factory, store, office, or mine. Generally a single establishment produces a single good or provides a single service. An enterprise (a private firm, government, or non-profit organization) could consist of a single establishment or multiple establishments. A multi-establishment enterprise could have all its establishments in one industry (i.e., a chain), or could have various establishments in different industries (i.e., a conglomerate).

Establishment Survey
A survey that collects information that is pertinent to a place of work. The Current Employment Statistics survey is an establishment survey that collects employment, payroll and hours data from employers for specific work site locations.

Export
A domestic good or service that is sold (export sale) abroad. Exports include government and non-government goods and services; however they exclude goods and services to the U.S. military, diplomatic, and consular institutions abroad. Exports do include goods and services that were previously imported.

Extended mass layoff
An event in which an employer has separated at least 50 workers in one state for more than 30 days.

F

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
An act that regulates the pay, work and overtime provisions for Federal employees.

Family household (family)
A family includes a householder and one or more people living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. All people in a household who are related to the householder are regarded as members of his or her family. A family household may contain people not related to the householder, but those people are not included as part of the householder's family in census tabulations. Thus, the number of family households is equal to the number of families, but family households may include more members than do families. A household can contain only one family for purposes of census tabulations. Not all households contain families since a household may comprise a group of unrelated people or one person living alone.

Farm employment
Persons who work as owners and operators of farms, as unpaid family workers on farms, and as hired workers who are engaged in farm activities.

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
Standards for information processing issued by the National Bureau of Standards in the U.S. Department of Commerce to achieve compatibility and interchangeability among data systems; includes a numeric designation for geographic areas such as States, counties, and metropolitan areas.

Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
The agency charged with administering and making policy for the Nation's credit and monetary affairs. Helps maintain the banking industry in sound condition.

Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)
This Act became Chapter 23, Sections 3301-331 1, of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, authorizing the tax imposed on employers with respect to persons they employ for the purpose of funding unemployment insurance benefits. The FUTA made possible the federal/state system that established an employment security program in each state.

Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE)
Primarily involved with the intercensal estimation of population change. The term also is applied to the state agency components of the FSCPE.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
A standard Internet protocol that is a simple way to exchange files between computers on the Internet. FTP is commonly used to transfer Web page files from their creator to the computer that acts as their server for everyone to access on the Internet. It is also commonly used to download programs and other files to a computer from other servers.

Final payment
The last regular benefit an unemployment claimant receives in a benefit year because the claimant has no further entitlement to payment, i.e. has exhausted entitlement by drawing the full amount of benefits from program funds.

Firm
A business entity, either corporate or otherwise. May consist of one or several establishments.

First-Professional certificate
An award that requires completion of an organized program of study designed for persons who have completed the first-professional degree. Examples could be refresher courses or additional units of study in a specialty or subspecialty.

First-Professional degree
This award level has been redefined as Doctor's Degree - Professional Practice. An award that requires completion of a program that meets all of the following criteria: (1) completion of the academic requirements to begin practice in the profession; (2) at least two years of college work prior to entering the program; and (3) a total of at least six academic years of college work to complete the degree program, including prior required college work plus the length of the professional program itself. First-professional degrees may be awarded in the following ten fields: Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.); Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.); Law (L.L.B., J.D.); Medicine (M.D.); Optometry (O.D.); Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.); Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.); Theology (M.Div., M.H.L., B.D., or Ordination); or Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.).

Flexible benefits
This type of plan provides employees a choice about their level of coverage among a number of different kinds of benefits, or gives employees pretax reimbursements for certain expenses related to employee benefits.

Foreign Labor Certification
A program that allows an employer to employ a foreign worker in the U.S. either on a temporary or permanent basis. It is the responsibility of the State Workforce Agency to determine the prevailing wage rate for the occupation in the area of intended employment.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1974
An act that requires Federal agencies to provide, to the public, access to and copies of existing agency records. Access can be denied only if records are within specific exempted categories, such as Title 13 data.

Frictional unemployment
The temporary joblessness which results from individuals who are between jobs, have quit their jobs and are looking for better ones, or are looking for their first jobs. This type of unemployment is usually short term and is caused by the economy's inability to immediately match job seekers with jobs.

Full employment
A state of the economy in which all persons who want to work can find employment at prevailing rates of pay. Some unemployment, both voluntary and involuntary, is not incompatible with full employment, since allowances must be made for frictional and seasonal factors which are always present to some degree.

Full time equivalent (FTE)
For budget and personnel ceiling purposes, this is the percentage of an employee's work time (including paid leave) in a position. For example, two employees who work half of their time on one project represent one FTE.

Full-time employees
Employees who usually work more than 35 hours per week (at all jobs within an establishment) regardless of the number of hours actually worked.

Full-time employment
Persons who were at work for 35 hours or more during the survey reference week are designated as working full time.

G

Geographic Information System (GIS)
A database system for the storage, retrieval, and maintenance of data about major aspects of the earth's surface.

Global Positioning System (GPS)
A technology using satellites and portable receivers to determine exact positions on the earth's surface.

Goods producing industries (NAICS)
Includes establishments engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; manufacturing; mining; or construction activities.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The market value of the output of goods and services produced by property and labor located in the United States, regardless of ownership. GDP is a "gross" measure because no deduction is made to reflect the wearing out of machinery and other capital assets used in production. GDP is a key measure of the overall performance of the economy and a gauge of the health of its sectors.

Gross National Product (GNP)
Differs from gross domestic product in that it covers the goods and services produced by labor and property supplied by United States residents.

Gross State Product (GSP)
The market value of the output of goods and services produced by property and labor located in a state, regardless of ownership.

Growth openings (Occupational Projections)
Average annual job openings indicate the average number of job openings anticipated each year for people who are new to an occupation.

H

High demand occupation
An occupation which has a substantial number of job openings both in absolute terms and relative to the number of job applicants for that occupation. High demand may be as a result of high growth, high turnover, or a combination of both.

High technology industry
An industry with a significant concentration employment in both research and development and in all technology-oriented occupations. The current definition of high tech are those industries with employment in research and development and technology-oriented occupations accounting for at least twice the average for all industries in the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey. Industries with at least five times the average for all industries are referred to as high-tech intensive industries. Current definitions list 29 industries as high tech, with a subset of ten industries qualifying as high-tech intensive industries.
Report: Covered Employment and Wages, Annual Averages, High Tech

Hispanic
Persons who identify themselves as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or of other Hispanic origin or descent. In U.S. Census data, persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; thus, they are included in both the white and black population groups.

Household
As defined by the Census Bureau, all persons who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a room or group of rooms intended for occupancy as separate living quarters and having either a separate entrance or complete cooking facilities for the exclusive use of the occupants.

Household survey
A survey, such as the CPS, that collects information that is pertinent to a place of residence.

Householder (household)
The person, or one of the people, in whose name the home is owned, being bought, or rented. If there is no such person present, any household member 15 years old and over can serve as the householder for the purposes of the census. Two types of householders are distinguished: a family householder and a nonfamily householder. A family householder is a householder living with one or more people related to him or her by birth, marriage, or adoption. The householder and all people in the household related to him are family members. A nonfamily householder is a householder living alone or with nonrelatives only.

Housing permits
Counted by the Bureau of the Census, new housing permits include permits issued for all new privately owned, attached and detached single-family houses.

Housing unit
A house, an apartment, a mobile home or trailer, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied as separate living quarters, or if vacant, intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall. For vacant units, the criteria of separateness and direct access are applied to the intended occupants whenever possible.

Hyperlink
A link from one electronic document to another or to any resource, or within a document. The default for a hyperlink is usually blue, underlined text, but displays may vary.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
The set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user. Each individual markup code is referred to as an element (but may also be referred to as a tag). Some elements come in pairs that indicate when some display effect is to begin and when it is to end.

I

Import
A good or service that is sold (import sale) to a person residing in the U.S. from a person residing abroad. Imports include government and non-government goods and services; however they exclude goods and services to the U.S. military, diplomatic, and consular institutions abroad. Imports do include goods and services that were previously exported.

Income
"Total income" is the sum of the amounts reported separately for wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, or tips; self-employment income from own nonfarm or farm businesses, including proprietorships and partnerships; interest, dividends, net rental income, royalty income, or income from estates and trusts; Social Security or Railroad Retirement income; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); any public assistance or welfare payments from the state or local welfare office; retirement, survivor, or disability pensions; and any other sources of income received regularly such as Veterans' (VA) payments, unemployment compensation, child support, or alimony.

Index number
A measure of the relative changes occurring in a series of values compared with a base period. The base period usually equals 100, and any variations from it represent percentages of change. By use of an index number, volumes of data can be combined and weighted into one number relative to the base value.

Industry
A distinct group of productive or profit-making enterprises. In NAICS, industries are defined and classified by how products and services are created.

Inflation
Inflation is a process of continuously rising prices, or equivalently, of a continuously falling value of money.

Initial claim
Any notice of unemployment requesting a determination of entitlement to, and eligibility for, compensation; or beginning a second or subsequent period of eligibility within a benefit year.

Initial claimant
A person who files any notice of unemployment to initiate a request either for a determination of entitlement to and eligibility for compensation, or for a subsequent period of unemployment within a benefit year or period of eligibility

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
A data collection of postsecondary educational institutions taken via reimbursable agreement for the National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Education.

Intercensal
Period between decennial Censuses.

J

Job Bank
A computerized system which provides rapid dissemination of job orders throughout a network of employment service local offices, allowing job seekers to post resumes and search for openings and allowing employers to post openings and search for applicants. New Hampshire's job bank is called the Automatic Job Match System. America's Job Bank has similar information for the nation.

Job Corps
A residential education and job training program for at-risk youth, ages 16 through 24. Job Corps combines classroom, practical, and work-based learning experiences to prepare youth for stable, long-term, high-paying jobs. Job Corps is administered by the US Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

Job leavers (Current Population Surveyy)
Unemployed persons who quit or otherwise terminated their employment voluntarily and immediately began looking for work.

Job losers (Current Population Survey)
Unemployed persons who lost their last job or who had completed a temporary job. This includes persons who were on temporary layoff as well as persons not on temporary layoff. Among those who were not on temporary layoff are permanent job losers and those whose temporary jobs had ended.

Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1983
OBSOLETE. A federal job training program which has been superceded by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998.

Joint Maintenance Agreement (JMA)
A contract between two or more adjoining districts in the same or different towns for establishing and maintaining jointly a high school or other public school for the benefit of their pupils, including raising and appropriation of funds. Their school boards, acting jointly or otherwise, have authority and perform such duties in relation to schools as provided for in the contracts.

Journey to work
Includes data on where people work, how they get to work, how long it takes to get from their home to their usual workplace, when they leave home to go to their usual workplace, and carpooling.

L

Labor dispute
A disagreement or conflict between an employer and employees, or between the employers association and employees trade union.

Labor force
All persons 16 years of age and over who are classified as employed, unemployed and actively seeking employment, or involved in a labor-management dispute. The labor force does not include persons who do not want a job, are unable to work due to disability, or are unavailable for work. The labor force also does not include discouraged workers who are no longer actively seeking employment because they believe that there is no work available for which they would qualify. The civilian labor force excludes members of the armed forces and the institutionalized population.
Report: Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)

Labor force participation rate
The percent of the total civilian non-institutional population classified as in the labor force, that is employed or unemployed and actively seeking employment.

Labor market
An interaction between workers and employers in which workers find paying work, employers find willing workers, and wage rates are determined. Labor market does not refer to a physical marketplace.

Labor Market Area (LMA)
A Small Labor Market Area, usually shortened to Labor Market Area or LMA is an economically integrated region within which workers usually change jobs without changing places of residence.

Labor Market Information (LMI)
Data on a broad range of topics including labor force, employment by industry and occupation, unemployment, population, earnings, wages, and hours worked.

Labor productivity
Labor productivity refers to the relationship between output and the labor time used in generating that output. It is the ratio of output per hour.

Labor Surplus Area (LSA)
A civil jurisdiction with an average unemployment rate during the two previous calendar years at least twenty percent above the unemployment rate for the U.S. and Puerto Rico during the same two year period. The designation allows establishments in the area preference in bidding for certain federal contracts.

Location Quotient
Ratios that compare the concentration of a resource or activity, such as employment, in a defined area to that of a larger area or base. For example, location quotients can be used to compare State employment by industry to that of the nation; or employment in a city, county, or other defined geographic sub-area to that in the State.

Lockout
Refusal by an employer to allow employees to come in to work until they agree to the employer's terms.

M

Manufacturing
Establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products. These products may be "finished", that is, ready for utilization or consumption, or it may be "semi-finished" to become an input for further manufacturing.
Report: Covered Employment & Wages

Marginally attached workers (Current Population Survey)
Individuals who want, and are available for work, and who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months (or since the end of their last job if they held one within the past 12 months), but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey. Discouraged workers are a subset of the marginally attached.

Market basket (Consumer Price Index)
The market basket is package of goods and services that consumers purchase for day to day living. The weight of each item is based on the amount of expenditure reported by a sample of households.

Mass layoff
An event that involves a large number of employees in the same state who file initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits against a single employer during a consecutive 5-week period. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has set a minimum of 50 claimants for nationally published statistics, however each state may set its own minimum for state published mass layoff events.

Master's degree
A degree awarded for successful completion of a program generally requiring one or two years of full-time college-level study beyond the bachelor's degree. One type of master's degree, including the Master of Arts degree (M.A.) and the Master of Science degree (M.S.), is awarded in the liberal arts and sciences for advanced scholarship in a subject field or discipline and demonstrated ability to perform scholarly research. A second type of master's degree is awarded for the completion of a professionally oriented program, for example, an M.Ed. in education, an M.B.A. in business administration, an M.F.A. in fine arts, an M.M. in music, an M.S.W. in social work, or an M.P.A. in public administration. A third type of master's degree is awarded in professional fields for study beyond the first-professional degree, for example, the Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master of Science in various medical specializations.

Mean (average)
Obtained by adding all the observed values together and dividing by the total number of observed values.

Mean wage
An average wage. 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
The middle value (or midpoint between two middle values) in a set of data arranged in order of increasing or decreasing magnitude. As such, one-half of the items in the set are less than the median and one-half are greater.

Median wage
An occupational median wage estimate is the point in the statistical wage distribution at which 50% of the workers in a given occupation earn more than the median wage and 50% of the workers earn less than the median wage.
Report: Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)

Metropolitan area
Contains a core urban area of 50,000 or more population and consists of one or more counties and includes the counties containing the core urban area, as well as any adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting to work) with the urban core.

Metropolitan division
A county or group of counties (in New England, cities or towns), contained in a Metropolitan Statistical Area having a core population of at least 2.5 million, that functions as a distinct social, economic, and cultural area within the larger region and maintains a separate statistical identity.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
As defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, a core area containing a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core. The current standard to qualify an area as a metropolitan area is that it contains a core urban area with a population of 50,000 or more.

Micropolitan area
Contains a core urban area of at least 10,000 (but less than 50,000) population and consists of one or more counties and includes the counties containing the core urban area, as well as any adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting to work) with the urban core.

Migration
Migration includes all changes of residence including moving into, out of, or within a given area.

Minimum wage
Under federal law, the lowest hourly wage allowed. In New Hampshire, the hourly minimum wage is currently equal to the Federal Government's minimum wage. There are exceptions to the minimum wage provisions of the law as stated in the Fair Labor Standards Act. A few examples are tipped employees and employees under 16 years of age.

Minor civil division (MCD)
A primary governmental and/or administrative subdivision of a county, such as a township, precinct, or magisterial district. MCDs exist in 28 states and the District of Columbia. In 20 states, all or many MCD's are general-purpose governmental units: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Most of these MCD's are legally designated as towns or townships.

Minority
Generally a person identified as a member of a race other than Caucasian and/or a person of Hispanic origin.
Report: Affirmative Action

Mode
The most frequently occurring value in a group of values.

Multiple jobholders (Current Population Survey)
Employed persons who, during the reference week, either had two or more jobs as a wage and salary worker, were self-employed and also held a wage and salary job, or worked as an unpaid family worker and also held a wage and salary job. Excluded are self-employed persons with multiple businesses and persons with multiple jobs as unpaid family workers.

Multi-unit structure
A building that contains more than one housing unit (for example, an apartment building).

N

New England City and Town Area (NECTA)
Similar to Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), a collective term for both metropolitan (metro) and micropolitan (micro) areas. In New England the core geographic area is the minor civil division (MCD) instead of the county. A metro area contains a core urban area of 50,000 or more population, and a micro area contains an urban core of at least 10,000 (but less than 50,000) population. Each metro or micro area consists of one or more MCD and includes the MCDs containing the core urban area, as well as any adjacent MCDs that have a high degree of social and economic integration (as measured by commuting to work) with the urban core.

New England City and Town Area (NECTA) Division
A NECTA containing a single core with a population of at least 2.5 million may be subdivided into groupings of cities and towns called NECTA Divisions. The main city of a NECTA Division must have a population of 50,000 or more and its highest rate of out-commuting to any other city or town is less than 20 percent. The NECTA Division must have a total population of 100,000 or more, and is comprised of contiguous MCDs.

New England County Metropolitan Area (NECMA)
An alternative set of county-based areas defined for New England states for consistency with other states.
New entrants (Current Population Survey).
Persons who have never worked before and are entering the labor force for the first time.

New entrants (Current Population Survey)
Unemployed persons who never worked before and who are entering the labor force for the first time.

Nominal
Economic values expressed in current prices. A general increase in prices will cause nominal prices to rise even if there is no real change in the value (see real).

Nondurable Goods
Manufactured items generally considered to last for three years or less. Food, beverages, apparel, and gasoline are common examples. Because of the nature of nondurable goods, they are generally purchased when needed.

Nonfarm wage and salary employment (CES Program)
The total number of persons on establishment payroll employed full or part time who received pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th day of the month. Temporary and intermittent employees are included, as are any workers who are on paid sick leave, on paid holiday, or who work during only part of the specified pay period. A striking worker who only works a small portion of the survey period, and is paid, is included. Persons on the payroll of more than one establishment are counted in each establishment. Data exclude proprietors, self-employed, unpaid family or volunteer workers, farm workers, and domestic workers. Persons on layoff the entire pay period, on leave without pay, on strike for the entire period or who have not yet reported for work are not counted as employed.

Nonmanufacturing
Encompasses all of the industries that are not involved in the production of goods from raw materials. Nonmanufacturing industries include mining; construction; transportation, communication, and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; services; and government.
Report: Covered Employment & Wages

Nonmetropolitan
The territory, population, and housing units located outside designated metropolitan area territory.

Nontraditional occupations
These are occupations in which either men or women are underrepresented. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nontraditional occupations for women are jobs in which 25 percent or less of the workers are women.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
A industrial classification which all establishments are assigned a six-digit code according to their primary economic activity; standardized for use by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. NAICS replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) taxonomy.

Not in the labor force (Current Population Survey)
Includes persons 16 years and over in the civilian noninstitutional population who are neither employed nor unemployed in accordance with the definitions contained in this glossary.

Not seasonally adjusted
This term is used to describe a type of data series for which the effects of annual seasonal patterns have not been removed.

O

O*Net
A comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics, providing a common language for defining and describing occupations. This classification system is the replacement for the now outdated Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).

Occupation
The unique set of tasks, skills, and abilities associated with an activity in which one engages to earn a livelihood. Employees that perform essentially the same tasks are in the same occupation, whether or not they are in the same industry. Some occupations are concentrated in a few particular industries, other occupations are found in the majority of industries.

Occupational demand (Employment Projections)
Job openings resulting from employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave an occupation.

Occupational education and training requirements
Defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the education and training classification consists of three categories: (1) typical education needed for entry; (2) work experience in a related occupation; and (3) typical on-the-job training needed to obtain competency. These levels of education, experience, and training are representative of that commonly considered necessary by employers for the occupation.

• Typical education needed for entry: level of formal education most workers need to enter the occupation (eight levels)
  Doctorate or professional degree; Master's degree; Bachelor's degree; Associate's degree; Postsecondary non-degree award; Some college, no degree; High school diploma or equivalent; Less than high school; or no formal education required.
• Work experience in a related occupation: a typical method of entry for some occupations, such as supervisors or managers, or restaurant cooks. (four levels)
  More than five years; one to five years; less than one year; or no work experience required
• Typical on-the-job training needed to attain competency in the occupation: level of additional training or preparation needed once a worker is employed in the occupation, to attain competency in the skills needed in that occupation. Training is occupation-specific rather than job-specific, learned skills can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. (six levels)
  Internship/residency; Apprenticeship; Long-term on-the-job training; Moderate-term on-the-job training; Short-term on-the-job training; No additional training needed.
  

Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS)
The OEWS program is a semi-annual survey of nonfarm establishments that collects occupational employment and wage data. The employment estimates produced are the basis for occupational projections in New Hampshire. In addition, hourly wage information such as mean, median and percentiles are produced. OEWS wage data is used to provide prevailing wage information for Alien Labor Certification. The OEWS survey uses the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, consisting of 821 detailed occupations.

Occupational staffing patterns
Describes an industry in terms of its occupational distribution. For example, an occupational staffing pattern for the electrical machinery industry would indicate how many of the workers in the industry were employed as electrical engineers, electronics technicians, assemblers, etc.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Located in the Executive Office of the President, this agency prepares the President's budget with the Council of Economic Advisors and the Treasury Department. OMB also oversees all Federal data collection. Among other duties, this federal agency is responsible for enforcing the Paperwork Reduction Act and, in so doing, must approve all surveys and data collection forms that represent a reporting burden on employers.

On-the-Job Training (OJT)
Occupational training performed at a worksite, providing workers with the skills needed for average job performance. On-the-job experience and instruction ranges from a short demonstration to as much as four years, depending on the occupation and employer. Individuals undergoing training are generally considered to be employed in the occupation.

Ownership
A classification indicated by numerical code that specifies the private sector of the economy or one of the several layers of government. Designations include Private Sector, Federal Government, State Government, Local Government, and International or Foreign Government.

P

Part
When appearing in parenthesis after a geographic name, this term indicates that only a portion of the named geography is represented. The full name reveals the geographic context which produced the part, such as "Houston city (part), Harris County, Texas", indicating that the only the portion of Houston city within Harris County is represented.

Part-time employees
Employees who usually work between 1 and 34 hours per week at all jobs within an establishment.

Part-time employees (Current Population Survey)
Persons who were at work for between 1 and 34 hours during the survey reference week are designated as being part time. Part-time workers are further classified by their usual status at their present job and by their reason for working part time. Part-time workers are considered involuntary if they report that they are working part time because of slack work, plant downtime, starting or ending a job during the week they are surveyed, or the inability to find a full-time job.

Part-time employment
Persons who were at work for between 1 and 34 hours during the survey reference week are designated as being part time. Part-time workers are further classified by their usual status at their present job and by their reason for working part time. Part-time workers are considered involuntary if they report that they are working part time because of slack work, plant downtime, starting or ending a job during the week they are surveyed, or the inability to find a full-time job.

Pay period that includes the 12th of the month
Standard measurement period for all Federal agencies collecting employment data from business establishments; time unit that employers use to pay employees that overlaps the 12th of the month; length of the pay period does not matter, as long as the 12th of the month is included in the pay period; for establishments with a Monday through Friday pay period, if the 12th of the month falls on a Saturday, it should be taken as the last day of the requested pay period, and if the 12th of the month falls on a Sunday, it should be taken as the first day of the requested pay period.

Per capita personal income
The annual total personal income of residents divided by the resident population as of July 1.

Percentage
This measure is calculated by taking the number of items in a group possessing a characteristic of interest and dividing by the total number of items in that group, and then multiplying by 100.

Percentile wage estimate
Indicates what percentage of workers in an occupation earn less than a given wage. For example, 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; and therefore, 75% of workers earn more than $15.00.

Permanent job losers (Current Population Survey)
Unemployed persons whose employment ended involuntarily and who began looking for work.

Personal Income
The sum of wage and salary disbursements, other labor income, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and transfer payments to persons, less personal contributions for social insurance. State personal income is defined as the income received by, or on behalf of, all the residents of the State.

Population
All people, male and female, child and adult, living in a given geographic area.

Population density
The total population within a specific geographic area divided by the number of square miles (or square kilometers) of land in that geographic area.

Population estimates
The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program publishes population numbers for each year between censuses. Estimates are usually made for the past; however projections of the population are also made for future dates. Data regarding births, deaths, and domestic and international migration are used to update the decennial census base counts to annual population estimates as of July 1 of the year estimated. These estimates are used in federal funding allocations; as inputs to other federal agencies' statistics and per capita time series; as survey controls; and in monitoring recent demographic changes. With each new issuance of July 1 estimates, the estimates for the years since the last census are revised.

Portable Document File (PDF)
A type of computer file that looks the same on the screen and in print, regardless of what kind of computer or printer is being used, and what kind of software package was originally used to create it.

Portion
When appearing after a geographic name for NH specific areas, this term indicates that only a portion of the named geography is represented. The full name reveals the geographic context which produced the portion, such as "Nashua NH-MA NECTA Division, NH Portion", indicating that the only the portion of the Nashua NECTA Division within New Hampshire is represented.

Postbaccalaureate certificate
An award that requires completion of an organized program of study equivalent to eighteen semester credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. It is designed for persons who have completed a baccalaureate degree, but does not meet the requirements of a master's degree.

Post-Master's certificate
An award that requires completion of an organized program of study equivalent to 24 semester credit hours beyond the master's degree, but does not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctor's level.

Postsecondary award, certificate, or diploma, less than one year
An organized program of study at the postsecondary level (below the baccalaureate degree) in less than one academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or in less than 900 contact hours by a student enrolled full time.

Postsecondary award, certificate, or diploma, one to two years
An organized program of study at the postsecondary level (below the baccalaureate degree) in at least one but less than two full-time equivalent academic years, or designed for completion in at least thirty but less than sixty semester credit hours, or in at least 900 but less than 1,800 contact hours.

Poverty
Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is poor. If the total income for a family or unrelated individual falls below the relevant poverty threshold, then the family or unrelated individual is classified as being "below the poverty level."

Price index
A price index is a tool that simplifies the measurement of movements in a numerical series. Movements are measured with respect to the base period, when the index is set to 100.

Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA)
OBSOLETE. An area defined by the Office of Management and Budget as a Federal statistical standard, comprised of one or more counties (county subdivisions in New England), within a metropolitan area, having a population of 1,000,000 or more. When PMSAs are established, the larger area of which they are component parts is designated a Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Private household workers
Persons who work for profit or fees, in private households, as child care workers, cooks, housekeepers or servants.

Private sector
The largest portion of the total economy, that is made up of private enterprises and corporations; as opposed to the public sector, which includes all operations of all levels of government.

Producer Price Index (PPI)
A family of indexes that measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPIs measure price change from the perspective of the seller. This contrasts with other measures, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), that measure price change from the purchaser's perspective. Sellers' and purchasers' prices may differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs.

Productivity
Productivity is a measure of economic efficiency which shows how effectively economic inputs are converted into output. Productivity is measured by comparing the amount of goods and services produced with the inputs which were used in production.

Projections
An estimate of future employment based on historical employment trends and anticipated shifts in economic, social, and demographic factors.

Public Law (P.L.)
A classification of laws that govern the relationships between government and citizens; and concerning the structure and operation of the government.

Public sector
A portion of the total economy that includes only Federal, State, and local government.

Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)
A statistical geographic area defined for tabulation and dissemination of decennial census Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data, American Community Survey (ACS) PUMS data and ACS period estimates. These areas cover the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands; are nested in states or state equivalents; have at least 100,000 population; are built on counties and census tracts; and are contiguous.

Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS)
Computerized files containing a sample of individual decennial census or American Community Survey records, showing most population and housing characteristics.

Q

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
A summary of employment and wage data for workers covered by State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and for civilian workers covered by the program of Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE). Previously called the ES-202 program.

R

Real
The designation given to a statistic after it has been deflated by an appropriate price index to a specific base period in order to make the statistic comparable over time.

Reentrants (Current Population Survey)
Persons who had previously worked, but were out of the labor force prior to beginning their most recent job search or employment.

Replacement openings (occupational projections)
Net replacement openings result when people permanently exit an occupation. Permanent exits occur if someone dies, retires, or otherwise decides not to work any more. Permanent exits also include openings resulting from someone permanently changing occupations.

Request for Proposal (RFP)
A proposed procurement that is advertised informally with terms and conditions to be negotiated with the bidder.

Resident population
An area's resident population consists of those persons "usually resident" in that particular area (where they live and sleep most of the time).

Rural
Territory, population and housing units located outside of urbanized areas or urban clusters. "Rural" classification cuts across other hierarchies and can be in metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas.

S

Sample
A portion of a statistical population chosen to be representative of the whole population. The properties of the sample are studied to gain information about the whole population.

Sampling Error
A type of error arising from the fact that it is not possible, short of a census, to select a sample which corresponds perfectly to the population from which it is selected. As the size of a sample increases, the magnitude of the sampling error decreases. Sampling errors differ from other kinds of statistical errors in that they occur at random and are unbiased. Non-sampling errors, on the other hand, are errors that can be attributed to mistakes in data collection, tabulation, analysis, etc.

School district
Geographic entities within which state, county, or local officials, or the Department of Defense, provide public educational services for the area's residents.

Seasonal Industry
An industry in which activity is affected by regularly recurring weather changes, holidays, vacations, etc. The construction industry is typically characterized as seasonal.

Seasonally adjusted
Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year, such as holiday shopping seasons, summer vacation, and weather patterns. These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other non-seasonal movements in a data series.

Secondary award
A program of studies designed to prepare students for their postsecondary education and occupation. Four types of programs of usually distinguished as academic, vocational, general, and personal use. An academic program is designed to prepare students for continued study at a college or university. A vocational program is designed to prepare students for employment in one or more semiskilled, skilled, or technical occupations. A general program is designed to provide students with the understanding and competence to function effectively in a free society, and usually represents a mixture of academic and vocational components. A personal use program provides a student with general skills in areas such as health, religion, and military science.

Sector (economic)
An industrial grouping to which similar establishments are classified. NAICS provides classification for 20 industrial sectors using a 2 digit code, and 96 sub-sectors using a 3 digit code.

Self-employed workers
Persons who work for profit or fees in their own business, profession, trade, or farm. Only the unincorporated self-employed are included in the self-employed category in the class of worker typology. Self-employed persons who respond that their businesses are incorporated are included among wage and salary workers, because technically, they are paid employees of a corporation.

Series break
A differentiation between two sections of a time series data set resulting from: (1) a major change in methodology; (2) a major change in industry definition; (3) a major industry or area coding error; (4) the permanent loss of a major reporter; or (5) area redefinition. If a series has been broken, data prior to the break are not comparable to data after the break.

Service Delivery Area (SDA)
A geographical area, designated by the governor, within which employment and training services are provided under the Job Training Partnership Act. Designated as Local Workforce Investment Areas according to the provisions of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. New Hampshire is a single SDA state; there are no designated sub-state areas.

Service providing industries (NAICS)
Includes wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; utilities; information; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; administrative support and waste management and remediation services; educational services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; other services; and public administration.

Shift-Share Analysis
A way to analyze economic growth by separating it into three components: national growth, industrial mix, and regional competitiveness.

Shortage (as in shortage of workers)
Shortages occur in a market economy when the demand for workers for a particular occupation is greater than the supply of workers who are qualified, available, and willing to do that job.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
A structure in which all establishments are assigned a four-digit code according to their primary economic activity. The SIC taxonomy has been phased out and replaced with the six-digit North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) taxonomy.

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
A standard classification for occupations used in social and economic statistical reporting programs, including private, public, and military occupations. All workers are classified into one of over 820 occupations according to their 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 occupation(s) requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience.

State data center (SDC)
A state agency or university facility identified by the governor of each state and state equivalent to participate in the Census Bureau's cooperative network for the dissemination of census data. A SDC also may provide demographic data to local agencies participating in our statistical areas. In New Hampshire, the state Office of Energy and Planning is the SDC.

State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (SOICC)
OBSOLETE. An interagency committee that promotes the development and use of occupational and labor market information. SOICCs have been superceded by America's Career Resource Network (ACRN), which has since been unfunded.

Structural unemployment
Unemployment from a mismatch between the skills of those who are currently unemployed and the skill requirements of existing job openings.

Sub-sector (economic)
A more narrowly defined industrial sub-category coded as one of 96 possible economic subsectors using a 3-digit NAICS code.

Summary Tape File (STF)
Summary tabulations of complete count and sample population and housing data available in different series for public use.

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
A Census Bureau continuing survey molded around a central core of labor force and income questions and supplemented with questions designed for specific topical needs.

Survey reference week (Current Population Survey)
The CPS labor force questions ask about labor market activities that occurred during a specific week each month. The survey reference week is usually the 7-day period, Sunday through Saturday, which includes the 12th of the month. Occasionally the survey reference week is changed for the months of November or December in order to avoid reporting difficulties that may occur due to the timing of major holidays.

Survey week
Typically, the week that includes the 12th day of the month is used as a reference period for most labor force and employment data.

T

Temporary help agency
Establishment primarily engaged in supplying workers to clients' businesses for limited periods of time to supplement the work force of the client; the individuals provided are employees of the temporary help service establishment, but these establishments do not provide direct supervision of their employees.

Thematic map
A map that reveals the geographic patterns in statistical data.

Time series
A set of consistent economic quantitative data collected at periodic intervals. Most labor market information is collected monthly; but weekly, quarterly and annual data are collected and published for some subject areas.

Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER)
A computer database that contains all census-required map features and attributes for the United States and its possessions, plus the specifications, procedures, computer programs, and related input materials required to build and use it.

Town
A type of minor civil division in the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin and a type of incorporated place in 30 states and the Virgin Islands of the United States.

Turnover
Separation of an employee from an establishment (voluntary, involuntary, or other) and subsequent replacement by a new employee.

Turnover rate
The number of total separations during the month divided by the number of employees who worked during or received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month (monthly turnover); the number of total separations for the year divided by average monthly employment for the year (annual turnover).

U

Underemployment
Persons working full-time or part-time in jobs that are below their earning capacity or level of competence. The terms "underemployed" and "underutilized" are used interchangeably. Underemployment also describes involuntary part-time employment of a person when full-time employment is desired.

Unemployed
Persons 16 years and over who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-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
The number of people who, during the survey week, had no employment but were available for work and: a) had engaged in any specific job-seeking activity within the past four weeks; b) were waiting to be called back from a job from which they had been laid off; or c) were waiting to report to a new wage or salary job within 30 days. The estimated number of people unemployed is based on data obtained from the Current Population Survey and is not based on the receipt unemployment insurance benefits.
Report: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Unemployment - Cyclical
Unemployment caused by periodic declines in business activity that give rise to an inadequate demand for workers in the economy.

Unemployment - Frictional
The temporary joblessness which results from individuals who are between jobs, have quit their jobs and are looking for better ones, or are looking for their first jobs. This type of unemployment is usually short term and is caused by the economy's inability to immediately match job seekers with jobs.

Unemployment - Seasonal
The portion of unemployment resulting from lack of demand in certain occupations because of annual seasonal patterns.

Unemployment - Structural
Unemployment from a mismatch between the skills of those who are currently unemployed and the skill requirements of existing job openings.

Unemployment insurance (UI)
A program that provides benefits to insured and eligible persons who are out of work due to conditions beyond their control. The program is financed by an employer tax.

Unemployment rate
The number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate more clearly shows the underlying trend of unemployment, by removing the influence of regularly recurring seasonal fluctuations which can be ascribed to typical weather patterns, crop-growing cycles, holidays, vacations, regular industry model changeover periods, etc.
Report: Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
A "standard" way of easily expressing the location and data type of a resource. URLs in general take the form "protocol://address" where protocol is something like gopher, FTP, telnet, and so on, and the address is merely the server and pathname (if any) of a given resource or page.

Unincorporated place
In New Hampshire, defined geographic places that are not incorporated as towns.

Unit
An establishment (i.e.,store, plant, warehouse) that produces goods and services, usually at a single physical location, and is engaged in one or predominantly one industry activity.

Universe
The total number of units, e.g., individuals, households, businesses, in the population of interest.

Unorganized territory
In a state in which the Census Bureau provides data for minor civil divisions (MCDs), the portion of a county that is not included in a legally established MCD or in an incorporated place that is independent of an MCD.

Unpaid family workers
Persons who work in a family business or farm without pay for 15 hours a week or more.

Urban
All territory, population and housing units in urbanized areas and in places of more than 2,500 persons outside of urbanized areas. "Urban" classification cuts across other hierarchies and can be in metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas.

Urban cluster
A densely settled area consisting of a central place(s) and adjacent territory with a population of at least 2,500 people and an overall population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile.

Urbanized area (UA)
An area consisting of a central place(s) and adjacent territory with a general population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile of land area that together have a minimum residential population of at least 50,000 people.

V

Veteran status
A "civilian veteran" is a person 18 years old or over who previously served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. Members of the Reserve and National Guard are counted as veterans if they had ever been called to active duty. Persons who are on active duty at the time of the survey are outside the scope of the survey, as are persons who reside in institutions, such as nursing homes and prisons.

Vocational rehabilitation
A program assisting persons with a disability, and whose disability creates substantial problems in preparing for a job, getting a job, or keeping a job.

W

Wage and salary workers
Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors.

Wages and salaries
Hourly straight-time wage rate or, for workers not paid on an hourly basis, straight-time earnings divided by the corresponding hours. Straight-time wage and salary rates are total earnings before payroll deductions, excluding premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends and holidays, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses such as lump-sum payments provided in lieu of wage increases.

Weekly hours
The expected or actual hours of employment for the week. Some uses of the term may relate to the outside dimensions of a week (e.g. 7 consecutive days).

Workforce Information Database
The Workforce Information Database, previously ALMIS, is a normalized, relational database structure developed for storage and maintenance of labor market, economic, demographic and occupational information. The WID allows for storage of information in a standard format and in a single location to meet the needs of a wide variety of labor market information customers.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998
Represents significant changes to federal statutes governing programs of job training, adult education and literacy, and vocational rehabilitation in order to establish a coordinated, streamlined and more flexible workforce development system. It is a revitalized system that focuses on providing employers with skilled workers, and the economic and workforce information they need to conduct business effectively, and on providing workers with the information, advice, job search assistance, and training they need to get and keep good jobs.

Workforce investment area
A geographical area, designated by the governor, within which employment and training services are provided under the Workforce Investment Act. New Hampshire is a single workforce investment area state; there are no sub-state areas.

Working-age population
A corrected census count of those individuals 16 years of age and older.