How was employment computed in 1987, 1993, 1998 and 2003 and how can the values among years be compared?
In 1987 and 1993, information was collected on paid part-time and paid full-time employment. TOTEMP = full-time+.5*part-time. In collecting information on full- and part- time workers, firms were asked to include any owners working in the firm. In 1998 and 2003, information was collected on the number of employees working in the firm and the number of owners working in the firm, whether paid or not. In the 1998 and 2003 files, TOTEMP = number of employees + number of owners working in the firm. The 1993 TOTEMP can be made somewhat comparable to the 1998 and 2003 TOTEMP by defining a new TOTEMP variable as the sum of the full-time (A11) and part-time employees (A12). A similar adjustment can be made for the 1987 TOTEMP, but separate part time and full time data are not currently available on the 1987 data set. If this information is needed for research purposes, please contact us and we will make it available to you.
