County Business Patterns - Industry Analyzer

County Business Patterns (CBP) - Defined

County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. This data is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning.
http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/about.html

Translation: An annually released set of data describing the number of employers (establishments), by NAICS industry, the number of employees (total employment), and number of employers by employee size ranges (National and State level data). It does not cover employment by occupational group.

Data Sources

County Business Patterns (CBP) and ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP) basic data items are extracted from the Business Register (BR), a database of all known single and multi-establishment companies maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. The BR contains the most complete, current, and consistent data for business establishments. The annual Company Organization Survey provides individual establishment data for multi-establishment companies. Data for single-establishment companies are obtained from various Census Bureau programs, such as the Economic Census (conducted every five years), the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Current Business Surveys, as well as from administrative records from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
CBP data are processed through various automated and analytical edits to remove anomalies, validate geographic coding, addresses, and industry classification. For more information on industry and geography classification, refer to the How the data are collected page. Noise infusion methodology is applied to protect individual business establishments from disclosure. Noise infusion was first applied to CBP data in 2007. Prior to 2007, data were protected using the complementary cell suppression method.
https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=1709

Translation: CBP data comes from a variety of government data sources, including federal tax records. Because of the multiple government sources, this represents the universe of all tax-reporting companies in the United States. It sets both an outside boundary for the number of employers (establishments) and it shows the total number of employees (employment) in about 1,200 unique NAICS industries.

Areas/Industries Covered

CBP data is reported at the following levels:

US National
State (including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands)
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
County
ZIP codes
Congressional district (Note: Not used in the SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer tool)

County Business Patterns (CBP) covers approximately 1,200 NAICS industries, excluding the following: Crop and animal production (NAICS 111,112); Rail transportation (NAICS 482); Postal Service (NAICS 491); Insurance and employee benefit funds (5251); Trusts, estates, and agency accounts (NAICS 525920); Public schools and colleges (NAICS 6111, 6112, 6113) – (CBP includes private schools and colleges in these NAICS); Private households (NAICS 814); and Public administration (NAICS 92).
Businesses without paid employees are covered by the Nonemployer Statistics series and are not included in CBP.
Although most government establishments are excluded from tabulation, CBP includes government establishments in the following industries: Government sponsored wholesale liquor establishments (NAICS 4248); Retail liquor stores (NAICS 44531); Book publishers (511130); Federally-chartered savings
https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=1711

Why CBP is Relevant

Because there are so many employers and so many employees, statistics about employees performing specific occupations in specific industries are estimated using a survey process. The Occupational Employment Survey (OES) program uses a comprehensive approach to selecting employers for survey, but does not have the resources to contact all employers. Surveys are subject to various sources of error, which are disclosed as part of the annual survey process. The Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) reflects a range of confidence about the survey data. Since a universe of data like the CBP reflects all the data rather than a surveyed subset of the data, it has no SEM since it reflects the reality of the reported time period and industry. So the CBP sets an outer boundary for how many employees there can be in an industry. The OES program shows the staffing pattern it found when its data was collected. There can be a high concentration of certain kinds of OES occupations in one industry and very few or none in other industries.

Vocational experts and vocational/rehabilitation guidance personnel often have various methods and resources for estimating job numbers. Depending on the venue in which job numbers are needed (such as Social Security Disability Appeals, worker's compensation, vocational rehabilitation/educational planning or other appealed/litigated situations), it is often useful to examine/compare one expressed opinion vs. another. As a universe data set, CBP data can help to establish/confirm some outer boundaries of reasonable estimates.

Why SkillTRAN built a special Industry Analyzer tool for this government data

The Census Bureau's data reported at its web site (http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp.html) is useful for basic generic reporting of the data. However, it is not tuned for any specific purpose other than to show the available data. Customers of SkillTRAN have specific needs, particularly regarding a careful and thoughtful analysis of employment numbers. In 2008, SkillTRAN released an industry-specific methodology for estimating employment at the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) level of occupational detail. This method goes deeper than currently available government statistics, which are limited to the Occupational Employment Survey (OES) level of detail in the Standard Occupational Classification. Many SkillTRAN customers continue to use the DOT because of statutory requirements and its treasure of job analyst ratings of observed job performance. No other occupational classification system comes close to the breadth and detail of the DOT.

Yet the DOT is a rapidly aging, static document, last updated in 1991. Nearly 80% of the 1991 DOT was really last updated in 1977. This makes much of the DOT about 40 years "out of date" most of the time. There have been many changes in the world of work since 1977, so it is important to consider the reality of changed occupational duties. Equally important is the reality of enormous structural changes in the economy, and changes to both occupations and to the industries in which these occupations are found. Some DOT occupations have dwindled or vanished as have the limited range of industries in which the occupation existed. Other DOT occupations have been combined into a more broad set of duties for a single job, been automated, or sent off shore. Some industries have been decimated (at least 50% fewer jobs) in the last 20-25 years, such as the manufacture of footwear and leather products, fabrics, textiles, clothing, apparel, jewelry, silverware, glass products and tobacco.

Because of the often very narrow and precise description in the DOT definition, there is little possibility that certain DOT occupations could be found outside that single industry in which it was first observed. Analysis of the current employment situation in industries relevant to a DOT occupation is critical to estimating employment numbers.

Use Industry Analyzer to Cross Check Occupational Estimates

County Business Patterns data is an accepted authoritative source for use in Social Security claims adjudication. SkillTRAN has downloaded the latest available Census Bureau data and presented it in a format more useful for study of employment patterns. It has also been blended with the latest available OES statistics to show typical staffing patterns identified by industry. There is no such blend available at government data web sites. SkillTRAN customers can use this approach to estimate occupational employment at the OES group level by industry. Because CBP data is the universe of employment by industry, this is a useful tool to cross-validate SkillTRAN's own industry-specific methodology.

Use Industry Analyzer in Labor Market Survey

Many vocational professionals conduct samples of employers to learn more about occupational opportunities in a defined labor market area. "Rule of thumb" common practice often limit calls to 5-10 employers ... but is that enough? Is that "all there are to call?" What is a proper sample size for a valid survey? Representing the universe of available industry data about number of employers, the CBP data defines the outer boundaries of a population size in a given geographic area, which can be used to calculate an appropriate sample size. SkillTRAN incorporates a public tool enabling calculation of the proper sample size for a target confidence level. SkillTRAN also has lists of employers by NAICS industry so that a target list of employer contacts can be produced in 5 minutes instead of 2-3 hours of manual searching. These are tools to help simplify and add some scientific soundness to the busy professional's life.

Use Industry Analyzer in Job Search

Job search, whether by vocational professionals or by an individual job seeker, is daunting at any age or life stage. Whether a graduating student, career changer, or recently displaced worker, knowing more about the industries that hire for an occupation is helpful for planning a successful job search. SkillTRAN's Industry Analyzer tool shows the size of an industry in terms of the number of employers in a given geographic area, the number of employers at various size ranges (number of employees per firm), and even has comparison tables showing the distribution of industry across States or within a State. These tables can be sorted by number of employers, employees, or employee size ranges. This helps to understand regional opportunities or clustering in specific States/sub-State areas. Newly graduated students may be able to relocate to places where there is greater opportunity. Job seekers with local roots need to understand local realities and possibly consider additional training/career change to increase future employment opportunities.

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