Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) jl.txt ****************************************************************************************** SPECIAL NOTICE: The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey program will publish National data on a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis shortly after the Current Employment Statistics program release May 2003 in June 2003. With the release of May 2003 data, SIC-based data will no longer be produced or published. ****************************************************************************************** Section Listing 1. Survey Definition 2. FTP files listed in the survey directory. 3. Time series, series file, data file, & mapping file definitions and relationships 4. Series file format and field definitions 5. Data file format and field definitions 6. Mapping file formats and field definitions 7. Data Element Dictionary ================================================================================ Section 1 ================================================================================ The following is a definition of: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) Survey Description: The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey program provide national estimates of rates and levels for job openings, hires, and total separations. Total separations are further broken out into quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. The estimates are available for eleven major industry divisions, nine private sector divisions and two public sector divisions, based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. These divisions include: Mining; Construction; Durable Goods Manufacturing; Nondurable Goods Manufacturing; Transportation and Public Utilities; Wholesale Trade; Retail Trade; Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate; Services; Federal Government; and State and Local Government. Estimates are also available for four geographic regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). The sample for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey includes randomly selected nonfarm establishments such as factories, offices, and stores, as well as federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 16,000 establishments in the JOLTS survey are drawn from a universe of approximately eight million establishments compiled as part of the Covered Employment and Wages, or ES-202, program. All data series are available from December 2000 to present. Estimates from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) are not seasonally adjusted, and experience suggests that there is a seasonal pattern to job openings, hires, and separations. In addition, BLS considers the JOLTS estimates to be developmental and advises that caution be exercised in drawing conclusions from the estimates. All levels are published in thousands and all rates are published in percent to one decimal place. Special characteristics of the data are footnoted where necessary. Updating Schedule: Updates are usually available the last week of the month for the previous reference month's data. All data are final estimates, second closing estimates. The month following the annual CES benchmark revision, all JOLTS pertinent estimates are retabbed. ================================================================================== Section 2 ================================================================================== The following Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey files are on the BLS internet in the sub-directory pub/time.series/jl: jl.contacts - Contacts for JOLTS program jl.data.0.Current - All current year-to-date estimates jl.data.1.AllItems - All estimates jl.dataelement - Data element codes mapping file jl.industry - Industry codes mapping file jl.period - Period codes mapping file jl.ratelevel - Rate/Level codes mapping file jl.region - Region codes mapping file jl.series - Series codes jl.txt - General information ================================================================================= Section 3 ================================================================================= The definition of a time series, its relationship to and the interrelationship among series, data and mapping files is detailed below: A time series refers to a set of data observed over an extended period of time over consistent time intervals (i.e. monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually). BLS time series data are typically produced at monthly intervals and represent data ranging from a specific consumer item in a specific geographical area whose price is gathered monthly to a category of worker in a specific industry whose employment rate is being recorded monthly, etc. The FTP files are organized such that data users are provided with the following set of files to use in their efforts to interpret data files: a) a series file (only one series file per survey) b) mapping files c) data files The series file contains a set of codes which, together, compose a series identification code that serves to uniquely identify a single time series. Additionally, the series file also contains the following series-level information: a) the period and year corresponding to the first data observation b) the period and year corresponding to the most recent data observation. The mapping files are definition files that contain explanatory text descriptions that correspond to each of the various codes contained within each series identification code. The data file contains one line of data for each observation period pertaining to a specific time series. Each line contains a reference to the following: a) a series identification code b) year in which data is observed c) period for which data is observed (M13, Q05, and S03 indicate annual averages) d) value e) footnote code (if available) ================================================================================= Section 4 ================================================================================= File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define jl.series. Note that the Field Numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by spaces; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. series_id 17 JLS000000NEJOR 2. seasonal 1 S or U 3. industry_code 6 000000 4. region_code 2 NE 5. dataelement_code 2 JO 6. ratelevel_code 1 R 7. footnote_codes 10 Text 8. begin_year 4 2000 9. begin_period 3 M12 10. end_year 4 2002 11. end_period 3 M05 The series_id (JLS000000NEJOR) can be broken out into: Code Value survey abbreviation = JL seasonal (code) = S industry_code = 000000 region_code = NE dataelement_code = JO ratelevel_code = R ================================================================================== Section 5 ================================================================================== File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each data file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by spaces; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. The jl.data file is partitioned into a number of separate files: See Section 2 The above-referenced data files have the following format: Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. series_id 17 JLS000000NEJOR 2. year 4 2000 3. period 3 M12 4. value 12 1036 5. footnote_codes 10 It varies The series_id (JLS000000NEJOR) can be broken out into: Code Value survey abbreviation = JL seasonal (code) = S industry_code = 000000 region_code = NE dataelement_code = JO ratelevel_code = R ================================================================================ Section 6 ================================================================================ File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each mapping file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Mapping files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by tabs; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. File Name: jl.dataelement Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. dataelement_code 2 JO 2. dataelement_text 100 Text File Name: jl.industry Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. industry_code 6 000000 2. industry_text 100 Text File Name: jl.period Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. period 3 M01 2. period_abbr 5 JUN 3. period_name 20 Text File Name: jl.ratelevel Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. ratelevel_code 1 R 2. ratelevel_text 100 Text File Name: jl.region Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. region_code 2 NE 2. region_text 100 Text ========================================================================================= Section 7 ========================================================================================= JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER SURVEY (JOLTS) DATABASE ELEMENTS Data Element Length Value(Example) Description begin_period 3 M01-M13 Identifies first data observation Q01-Q05 within the first year for which Ex: M06=June data is available for a given (M=Monthly, M13=Annual time series. Avg, Q=Quarterly, Q05= Annual Avg) begin_year 4 YYYY Identifies first year for which Ex: 1976 data is available for a given time series. dataelement_code 2 JO Code identifying type of data. dataelement_text 100 Text Description of type of data. Ex: Job Openings end_period 3 M01-M13 Identifies last data observation Q01-Q04 within the last year for which Ex: M06=June data is available for a given (M=Monthly, M13=Annual time series. Avg, Q=Quarterly, Q05= Annual Avg) end_year 4 YYYY Identifies last year for which Ex: 1992 data is available for a given time series. footnote_codes 10 It varies Identifies footnotes for the data series. footnote_text 100 Text Contains the text of the footnote. industry_code 6 005000 Code identifying industry. industry_text 100 Text Name of industry. Ex: Services period_abbr 5 Period name Abbreviation of period name. abbreviation Ex: JUN period 3 M01-M13 Identifies period for which Q01-Q04 data is observed. Ex: M06=June (M=Monthly, M13=Annual Avg, Q=Quarterly, Q05= Annual Avg) period_text 20 Text Full name of period to which Ex: June the data observation refers. ratelevel_code 1 R Code identifying rate or level. ratelevel_text 100 Text Decription of ratelevel_code. Ex: Rate region_code 2 Ex: NE Code identifying region. region_text 100 Text Description of region. Ex: Northeast seasonal 1 S=Seasonally Code identifying whether the Adjusted data are seasonally adjusted. U=Unadjusted series_id 17 JLS005000NEJOR Code identifying the specific series. value 12 Ex: 103623 Data value for series. year 4 YYYY Identifies year of observation. Ex: 1990