Chicago, IL – May 31, 2013 – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will be among the exhibitors at The Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) 2013 Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The exhibit will be held June 16-18 at McCormick Place. Staff from the BLS’s Midwest Regional Office, located in Chicago, will be on hand in Booth 2225 to explain the data produced by the BLS and demonstrate how these data can be used by human resource professionals.
Most of the information to be featured comes from the National Compensation Survey (NCS) and the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) programs. The NCS produces data on employment cost trends and the incidence, provisions, and cost of employer provided benefits. The OES provides data on employment and occupational wages. All BLS data are free of charge and available online.
As part of the exhibit, BLS staff will show users how to access data online from the BLS website. BLS survey respondents–those individuals that provide the data that go into BLS surveys–are especially encouraged to stop by so that BLS may thank them and answer any questions that they have.
All visitors to the booth will receive a copy of “Zooming in on Compensation Data – A guide to BLS data for Human Resources Professionals”. Those not attending the conference can request a copy of this booklet by sending an email request to HRGuide {at} bls {dot} gov.
About the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Its mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate essential economic information to support public and private decision-making. As an independent statistical agency, the BLS serves its diverse user communities by providing products and services that are objective, timely, accurate, and relevant.
About the BLS Information Offices
In addition to the Chicago Information Office, BLS has seven other regional information offices, located in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. BLS staff from these offices are available to assist data users in finding and understanding the data they need. The Information Offices may be contacted via email, telephone, or in person.
About the National Compensation Survey
The National Compensation Survey is an on-going, comprehensive employer-based survey of over 10,000 establishments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The NCS is an umbrella program that produces data on several topics including benefits, wages, and compensation cost trends. One of its outputs–the Employment Cost Index (ECI)–is a principal federal economic indicator. The ECI measures the percent change in the cost of wages and benefits. Another output is the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC). The ECEC provides costs for wages and individual benefits on a cost per hour worked basis. In addition to the reports and websites mentioned in this release, several BLS publications, such as Beyond the Numbers, feature analysis of NCS data.
About the Occupational Employment Statistics Program
The Occupational Employment Statistics program is an on-going, comprehensive employer-based survey of approximately 1.2 million establishments collected over a 3-year period. The OES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program between the BLS and State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The BLS provides the procedures and technical support, draws the sample, and produces the survey materials, while the SWAs collect the data. The OES provides employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations by State, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area, as well as by detailed industry and ownership (private industry, local government, state government, and federal government) at the National level.