What recent changes have affected Current Population Survey data?
Effective with the release of data for January 2003, a number of changes affect estimates from the Current Population Survey (CPS), or household survey. These changes were undertaken to benchmark the survey data to more current estimates of the U.S. population; to adopt new standards for data on race, ethnicity, industry, and occupation; and to improve seasonal adjustment procedures. In addition, the data reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors and revisions to historical seasonally adjusted data. Also, a one-month change in weighting procedures makes data for January not strictly comparable with data for both prior and subsequent months. Additional detail is provided at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_notice02a.htm.
