The following terms are commonly used in connection with employment and labor market information. To find the definition of a particular term from the list below, select the first letter of the term.
# A B C D E F G H IJ L M N O P QR S T U W (No K,V,X,Y or Z)
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- 25th Percentile Wages
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Twenty five percent of the workers in the occupation earn wages
below the first quartile wage listed, and seventy five percent of
the workers earn wages above the first quartile wage listed.
- 50th Percentile Wages
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Fifty percent of the workers in the occupation earn wages below the
median wage listed, and fifty percent of the workers earn wages
above the median wage listed.
- 75th Percentile Wages
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Seventy five percent of the workers in the occupation earn below
the third quartile wage listed, and twenty five percent of the
workers in the occupation earn above the third quartile wage
listed.
- America's Career Information Network (ACINet)
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Provides national, state and local career information and labor
market data using unique career tools, career reports, videos, a
career resource library and other innovative web-based tools. (www.acinet.org/)
- Apprenticeship
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A structured approach for entering a skilled occupation in most of
the major trade industries. Combines training on the job with
related and supplemental instruction at school.
- Benchmark
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An annual revision process in which monthly labor force and payroll
employment by industry estimates are updated.
- BLS Training Levels
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Occupational training and education classifications developed
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to improve on prior
classification systems that did not distinguish between occupations
with comparable educational requirements.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
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See U.S. Department of Labor
- Bureau of the Census
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See U.S. Census Bureau
- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
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The BEA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The
BEA is part of the Department's Economics and Statistics
Administration. The BEA produces and disseminates economic
account statistics that provide government, businesses, households,
and individuals with a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of
economic activity. (www.bea.gov/)
- California Career Resources Network (CalCRN)
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Distributes career information, resources, and training materials
to middle school and high school counselors, educators, and
administrators, in order to ensure that middle schools and high
schools have the necessary information available to provide a pupil
with guidance and instruction on education and job requirements
necessary for career development. (www.californiacareers.info/)
- California Workforce Investment Board
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Established by Executive Order in response to the mandate of the
federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, the Board assists
the Governor in setting and guiding policy in the area of workforce
development. (www.cwib.ca.gov/)
- CalJOBSSM
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CalJOBSSMProvides an automated, easy-to-use system for
personal computers. The system serves employers who want to
fill job openings and individuals seeking employment. (www.caljobs.ca.gov/)
- Career Development
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Is a lifelong process of exploring, choosing, and implementing
decisions about educational, work and life roles. It includes
an individual's values about work, their beliefs about their
own interests and abilities, their decisions about education, the
ways they negotiate transitions into and out of work experiences
and their unique interactions between work and other life roles.
- Census
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A complete count of a specified population or some measurable
characteristics in a given area (e.g. housing, industry, etc.).
- Census Data
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Data derived from a census, typically the U.S. Census of
population.
- Census Share
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The method used to disaggregate labor market area (LMA) employment
and unemployment statistics to sub-areas by assigning to the areas
the same proportion of the monthly independent labor market area
(LMA) estimate as was evidenced in the most recent census data.
- Census Tracts
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Census-designated units that are small parts of metropolitan areas
(MAs) and provide statistically comparable population and housing
census tabulations. Tracts are designed to be relatively
similar in population characteristics, economic status, and living
conditions. The average tract has about 4,000 inhabitants.
Census tract boundaries are recommended by local census tract
committees and approved by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Civilian
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Age 16 years or older, not members of the Armed Services, and are
not in institutions such as prisons, mental hospitals, or nursing
homes.
- Civilian Employment
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All individuals who worked at least one hour for a wage or salary,
or were self-employed, or were working at least 15 unpaid hours in
a family business or on a family farm, during the week including
the 12th of the month. Those who were on vacation, on other
kinds of leave, or involved in a labor dispute, were also counted
as employed.
- Civilian Labor Force
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The sum of civilian employment and civilian unemployment
- Civilian Noninstitutional Population
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Included are individuals 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.
- Civilian Unemployment
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Those individuals who were not working but were able, available,
and actively looking for work during the week including the 12th of
the month. Individuals who were waiting to be recalled from a
layoff, and individuals waiting to report to a new job within 30
days were also considered to be unemployed.
- Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA)
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Adjoining Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) having a combined
population of one million or more. When combined into a CMSA,
each component metropolitan area is referred to as a Primary
Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA).
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
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A Bureau of Labor Statistics program which measures the average
change in prices of a fixed set of goods and services purchased by
households. It is the most commonly recognized measure of
inflation. (www.bls.gov/cpi/home.htm)
- Contingent Worker
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Worker hired for a limited time or to work on a specific project
lasting from a few days to many months.
- Cost-of-Living
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A Cost-of-Living Index measures differences in the price of goods
and services, and allows for substitutions to other items as prices
change. A Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures a price change
for a constant market basket of goods and services from one period
to the next within the same city (or in the Nation). The CPI
is not a true cost-of-living index and should not be used for
place-to-place comparisons.
- County
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The largest territorial division for local government.
- Covered Employment and Wages (ES-202) Program
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This program produces employment and wage data for workers covered
by State unemployment insurance laws and Federal workers covered by
the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees Program. (www.bls.gov/cew/cewover.htm)
- Crosswalk
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Matching one coding system to another. This usually refers to
the occupational coding systems.
- Current Employment Statistics (CES)
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Monthly survey of establishments, which is the basis of estimates
of wage and salary employment. This survey is mandated by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and conducted in all territories of the
U.S. In California, the data is collected, analyzed and
published by the Labor Market Information Division of the
Employment Development Department. (www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm)
- Current Population Survey (CPS)
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Monthly household survey of the civilian noninstitutional
population of the United States. The survey provides monthly
statistics on employment, unemployment, and related subjects.
The data are analyzed and published each month by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. In California, this data is gathered and
published by the Labor Market Information Division of the
Employment Development Department. (www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm)
- Cyclical Unemployment
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Temporary downturn in the job market. The most common form of
cyclical unemployment occurs when workers are temporarily laid off.
- Demand
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The need for new workers created by industry or occupational
growth.
- Demographics
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The characteristics of the population such as age, income,
ethnicity, etc.
- Department of Labor
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See U.S. Department of Labor
- Department of Finance (DOF)
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The Department of Finance (DOF) has authority over all financial
and business polices of the State. The Demographic Research
Unit within DOF is designated as the single source of demographic
data for State planning and budgeting. This includes, but is
not limited to producing population estimates and projections. (www.dof.ca.gov/)
- Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)
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The Department of Industrial Relations was established to improve
working conditions for California's wage earners, and to
advance opportunities for profitable employment in California. (www.dir.ca.gov/)
- Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
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An obsolete occupational coding system that was established by the
U.S. Department of Labor to classify occupations in a consistent
manner. (www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm)
- Discouraged Worker
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People not in the labor force who want and are available for a job
and who 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 who are not currently looking because they believe
there are no jobs available or there are none for which they would
qualify.
- Displaced Worker
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Individuals 20 years 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.
- Durable Goods
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Manufactured items generally considered to have a normal life
expectancy of more than three years (e.g., automobiles, furniture,
household appliances).
- Duration of Unemployment
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The length of time in weeks (through the current reference week)
that individuals classified as unemployed had been looking for work.
- Economic Development
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The entire array of activities, some conducted by government, and
some by the private sector, often in partnership with government,
which are intended to expand the economy of a designated area to
increase the number of jobs available to the population of that
area.
- Economic Indicator
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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.
- Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL)
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California established the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL)
in compliance with the Workforce Investment Act. The purpose
of the ETPL is to provide customer-focused employment training for
adults and dislocated workers. (etpl.edd.ca.gov/wiaetplind.htm)
- Emerging Occupations
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Employment Development Department's Labor Market Information
Division designates occupations as "emerging" if changes
occurred due to technology, legislation, demographics, social
concerns and/or the marketplace (e.g., biotechnology occupations).
- Employed
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Individuals, aged 16 years or older, who are working.
- Employer Payroll Records
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Data from employers submitted quarterly to the Tax Branch of the
Employment Development Department. These records contain
information on the number of workers, and the total wages paid.
- Employment
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Individuals who are working.
- Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
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A part of the U.S. Department of Labor. This agency oversees
the State Unemployment Insurance Programs and job training and
placement services provided by the State Employment Security
Agencies. In California the Employment Development Department
is the State Employment Security Agency. (www.doleta.gov/)
- Employment Cost Index (ECI)
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A measure of the change in the cost of labor, free from the
influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries.
In California, OES wage estimates are updated using the most
current release of the ECI. More detailed information on the
ECI is available from several sources. These include a
chapter, "National Compensation Measures," (www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf)
from the BLS Handbook of Methods, and several articles published in
the Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working Conditions.
- Entry-Level
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Jobs or occupations for which employers hire workers with little or
no previous work experience or with relatively minimum training or
education. Occupations that require more education or
training may have specific entry-level classifications such as
apprenticeship or internship.
- Establishment
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The physical location of a certain economic activity--for example,
a factory, mine, store, or office. A single establishment
generally produces a single good or provides a single service.
- Estimate
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Numerical data calculated from sample data, or from a model, and
intended to provide information about a larger set of data.
- Forecast
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To calculate or predict some future event or condition; usually as
a result of study and analysis of available pertinent data.
- Frictional Unemployment
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Occurs when an individual voluntarily leaves one job and has not yet
begun another job. The worker is voluntarily unemployed and
is utilizing his/her right to change jobs.
- Full-Time Employment
- An individual employed 35 or more hours per week.
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