Bureau of Labor Statistics January 25, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, through the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is responsible for the development and publication of local area labor force statistics. In the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, unemployment, and the unemployment rate for more than 7,000 areas in the Nation are developed and issued monthly. With data for January 2005, to be published in March 2005, the monthly labor force estimates prepared in the LAUS program will be based on methodological improvements that resulted from the completion of a number of projects to improve the statistical basis of the estimates. In addition, the LAUS estimates will reflect updated geography and other techniques that are based on 2000 Census data.