Census Bureau: Quarterly Workforce Indicators

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following tip sheet was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau:

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This brief draws on newly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators, which includes information on firm age and size from the Business Dynamics Statistics microdata. The brief highlights statistics on hiring, turnover and wages at young businesses, finding that despite high worker turnover at young firms, the share of hires that increase net employment is higher at young firms relative to established businesses. The report also documents a decline in the relative wages paid to workers at young businesses, a decline partly explained by changes in the industry composition of young firms.

The Quarterly Workforce Indicators are generated from federal and state administrative data on employers and employees combined with core Census Bureau censuses and surveys to produce a rich, quarterly dataset that tracks employment, hires, separations, job creation and destruction, and wages for stable employees and new hires. While the importance of young firms in net job creation is well documented from establishment-level data (particularly Business Dynamics Statistics), the addition of firm age and size information to the jobs data in the Quarterly Workforce Indicators allows for the first time examination of the workforce dynamics -- hiring, turnover, wages -- as well as the demographic makeup of workers at young businesses.