Tracking Unemployment with CDXZipStream

 

We would like to highlight here the availability of monthly and annual average unemployment data in the Premium and Premium ACS versions of CDXZipStream.  This data is updated every month and is provided by state, county, and CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area).  The source of the data is the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics; this data is issued approximately six weeks after the end of the month, so, for example, unemployment statistics for January are issued about mid-March.  When we update our premium databases, unemployment statistics are updated for CDXZipStream at the end of the month when the BLS data is issued.

The data we provide is not seasonally adjusted, since the BLS does not provide adjusted statistics for smaller geographies with smaller populations.    (National and state unemployment statistics that are announced in the media are seasonally adjusted to account for variations in holiday and summer hiring practices, for example.)  As a result, the unemployment statistics we provide are most useful when analyzing year-to-year (vs. month-to-month) variations.  All year-average data from the BLS, regardless of geography, are not seasonally adjusted.  

When BLS unemployment statistics are first issued, they are normally considered preliminary and are subject to changes and adjustments in the future, sometimes even several months later.  Therefore, in CDXZipStream, we also update historical data every month to reflect these potential changes.  If you are tracking unemployment changes over time, any data you've obtained in the past should be requested again from the CDXZipStream database, to ensure these changes are reflected in your worksheet.  

If you are interested in unemployment for a limited number of geographies, the BLS has an excellent on-line tool for tracking unemployment.  If you need to track unemployment for multiple states, counties, and or CBSA's, CDXZipStream is the tool of choice.

 

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