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OES Special Notices
- Notice about May 2016 estimates for foresters and forest and conservation workers in Alabama
The May 2016 OES published employment and wage estimates for foresters (occupation code 19-1032) and forest and conservation workers (occupation code 45-4011) were incorrect at the following levels:
- Birmingham-Hoover, AL (foresters only)
- Southwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area (foresters only)
- Alabama statewide
These estimates were removed from the website on September 21, 2017. Estimates for 2017 will be provided by April 2018 and will include any new publishable data for these occupations.
- Notice about comparing occupational wages across ownership
groups
OES data provide estimates of mean and median wages paid in a wide
range of detailed occupations. Because these data are available for
different ownerships, such as private and federal, state, or local
government, they may be used to compare mean or median wages of
occupations across these groups. However, users should be aware that pay
for a given occupation can vary across ownerships, industries, and
geographic areas due to differences within occupations that are not
accounted for in published data. For more information see the question
below.
Can the OES data be used to compare private and government
pay for similar work?
Occupational wages in the different ownership groups (the private
sector, and state, local, and federal governments) are influenced by
many factors that the OES measures cannot take into account. Thus, while
one can obtain OES data that compare estimates of mean and median wages
paid in a wide range of detailed occupations across ownership groups,
those comparisons do not explain why they might be different. Among the
many reasons are:
- Level of work performed. Workers may have different levels of
responsibility, despite being in the same occupation.
- Age and experience. More experienced workers tend to have higher
wages. (As an example, data from the Current
Population Survey show that federal workers, on average, are older
and have far more work experience with their employer than the typical
private-sector worker.)
- Cost of living. Workers concentrated in large urban areas with
higher costs of living are more likely to have higher wages than those
working elsewhere.
- Establishment size. Workers in large establishments generally have
higher wages than workers in small establishments.
- Work schedules. Full-time workers tend to earn higher hourly wages
than part-time workers in the same occupation. (The OES annual wage
estimates assume a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080
hours.)
- Unionization. Workers in unionized establishments may have
different wages than non-union establishments.
OES data are not designed for use in comparing federal and private
sector pay because the OES data do not contain information about pay
according to the level of work performed. BLS conducts a separate
survey, the National Compensation Survey, which
provides data by level of work for use by the President's Pay Agent. The
President's Pay Agent, (the Directors of the Office of Personnel
Management and the Office of Management and Budget, and the Secretary of
Labor), is charged by law with recommending federal pay adjustments to
the President. Questions about federal pay comparability should be
directed to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
- Notice about employment and wage data for selected occupations
in Florida
Due to reporting errors, employment and wage data for May 2008 for
selected areas in Florida were removed from the BLS web site on
September 21, 2009 for the following occupations:
Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists; Community and social
service specialists, all other; Correctional officers and jailers;
Eligibility interviewers, government programs; Emergency management
specialists; First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers;
Fish and game wardens; Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates;
Mental health and substance abuse social workers; Personal and home care
aides; Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists;
Psychiatric aides; Social and human service assistants; Substance abuse
and behavioral disorder counselors; and Tax examiners, collectors, and
revenue agents.
- Notice about May 2008 wage data for 3 postal service
occupations
BLS removed May 2008 wage data for three U.S. Postal Service specific
occupations ? (1) postal service clerks; (2) postal service mail
carriers; and (3) postal service mail sorters, processors, and
processing machine operators ? after determining that our standard
methodology for estimating wages did not work well for these unique
occupations. Revised May 2008 wage estimates for these occupations were
posted on May 29, 2009. The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)
database and the most recent OES news release were also updated on that
day with the revised estimates.
- Notice about wage data for flight attendants and airline pilots,
copilots, and flight engineers
Wage data for two occupations, (1) flight attendants and (2) airline
pilots, copilots, and flight engineers, were removed from tables on the
BLS website in September 2008 because the annual wage figures were found
to have been overestimated. Revised May 2007 wage estimates for these
occupations were posted on February 12, 2009. The Occupational
Employment Statistics (OES) database and the most recent OES news
release were also updated on that day with the revised estimates.
Unfortunately, BLS is not able to publish corrected estimates for data
prior to May 2007. We regret any inconvenience that this causes
users.
- NAICS 2012 Comment Period Open
On January 7, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
published a Federal Register notice on a potential 2012 revision to the
2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). All
comments sent TO OMB on or before April 7, 2009, will be considered part
of the official record. Please see www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/federal_register_notices/notices/fr07ja09.pdf for more information.
Useful NAICS links:
- Notice about wage estimates for teaching occupations in New York
for November 2003 to May 2006
Wage estimates for several teaching occupations in the New
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA), the New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ Metropolitan
Division, and New York state for November 2003 to May 2006 were removed
from tables on the BLS website because the annual wage figures were
found to have been overestimated. The error in procedures that had led
to the overestimation was corrected prior to the publication of wage
estimates for May 2007. Unfortunately, BLS is not able to publish
corrected estimates for the earlier periods. We regret any inconvenience
that this causes users.
- Notice about reduction in sample size of Occupational Employment
Statistics survey
Due to budget constraints, Occupational Employment Statistics has
reduced the sample size of the May 2008 panel by 20 percent. Because OES
estimates are produced from three years of pooled data, this one-time
sample reduction will affect estimates for May 2008, May 2009, and May
2010. This reduction is expected to decrease the number of published
employment estimates by at least five percent, or about 25,000
estimates, and will decrease the accuracy of the remaining estimates.
The number and quality of wage estimates are also expected to decline.
These cutbacks are being implemented in response to a reduction in
funding to the BLS that resulted from The 2008 Consolidated
Appropriations Act enacted on December 26, 2007.
- Notice about redefined metropolitan areas
With the issuance of data for May 2005, the OES program has
incorporated redefined metropolitan areas as designated by the Office of
Management and Budget. OES data are available for 375 metropolitan
statistical areas and 34 metropolitan divisions.
- Notice about change in Occupational Employment Statistics
publication schedule
Due to budget constraints in the Occupational Employment Statistics
(OES) program, beginning with the release of the May 2005 estimates in
the Spring of 2006, OES will return to once a year publication.
Estimates for November 2005 will not be published.
Last Modified Date: January 24, 2018
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