Guam

Title of the survey

Current Employment Survey (CES)

Organization responsible

Guam Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Periodicity of the survey

Quarterly, in March, June, September and December of each year.

Objectives of the survey

To provide detailed and current estimates of employment, hours of work and earnings by industry.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, earnings and hours of work.

Reference period

The pay period which includes the 12th of each reference month.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole territory.

Industrial

All branches of economic activity (except mining and quarrying, which are not relevant).

Establishments

All types and sizes of establishments in the private and public sectors.

Persons

All employees in private establishments and civilian employees in Federal Government employment. Excluded are proprietors, the self-employed, unpaid volunteer or family workers, domestic workers and military personnel in Government employment.

Occupations

Occupational data are not collected.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees are persons who received pay for any part of the reference pay period. They include both permanent and temporary employees, those who work either full-time or part-time during the reference period, and workers who are on paid sick leave (when pay is received directly from the employer), paid holiday or paid vacation, or who work during only a part of the specified reference period, even though they are unemployed or on strike during the rest of the period. Salaried officers of corporations are included. In government establishments, employees are those persons who occupied positions on the last day of the calendar month. Intermittent workers are counted if they performed any service during the month. Excluded are persons who are on layoff, on leave without pay, on strike for the entire period, or who were hired but have not yet reported during the period. The following categories of workers are separately identified:

Earnings

Data are collected on the total payroll of all full-time and part-time production, construction and non-supervisory workers who received pay for any part of the reference period. The payroll is reported before deductions of any kind (e.g. for old-age and unemployment insurance, group insurance, withholding tax, bonds or union dues). Included is pay for overtime, holidays, vacation and sick leave paid directly by the firm; other paid leave; bonuses paid at each pay period; incentive pay and commissions paid monthly. Excluded from total payroll are bonuses not paid at each pay period; other pay not earned in the pay period reported (e.g. retroactive pay); tips; pay advances; annual pay for unused leave; and the value of free rent, fuel, meals, or other payment in kind. Employee benefits (such as health and other types of insurance, contributions to retirement, etc., paid by the employer) are also excluded.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Data are collected on total hours paid for (including overtime), during the reference period, for production, and non-supervisory workers. Included are overtime hours, hours paid for stand-by or reporting time, and hours not worked but for which pay was received directly from the firm, for holidays, vacation, sick leave and other paid leave.

International recommendations

The definition of payroll used in this survey complies with the international recommendations on regular earnings, with the following exception: the value of payments in kind (such as food and drink, fuel, clothing, etc.) and housing and rent allowances are excluded. The definition of hours of work used in this survey corresponds to the concept of hours paid for.

Classifications

Industrial

Data on employment, hours and earnings are classified according to the 1987 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC). This classification is not directly linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968. Reporting establishments are classified into significant economic groups by assigning a four-digit SIC code, on the basis of major products or activity as determined by the establishment's percentage of total sales or receipts for the previous calendar year. All data for an establishment making more than one product or engaging in more than one activity are classified under the industry of the most important product or activity based on the percentages reported.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Employment data are classified by sector (private and public);

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

This is the establishment, i.e. an economic unit, such as a factory, mine or store which produces goods or services. It is generally at a single location and engaged predominantly in one type of economic activity. Where a single location encompasses two or more distinct activities, these are treated as separate establishments, provided that separate payroll records are available.

Survey universe / sample frame

This consists of the Annual Census of Establishments which covers all establishments in the territory and provides benchmark employment data as of March of each year. The frame is updated on a continuous basis, by using business licenses, telephone listings and field work from the CES.

Sample design

The sampling design is known as "optimum allocation proportional to employment". Universe establishments are stratified by region and industry size. (No other details are available.)

Field work

Data collection

Data are collected by mailed questionnaires. Telephone and personal visits are used to follow up on non-respondents.

Survey questionnaire

Not available.

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant.

Data processing and editing

Not available.

Types of estimates

Construction of indices

Not relevant.

Weighting of sample results

Estimates of employment are generated through an annual benchmark and a quarterly sample link relative procedure. Independent benchmarks are not available for the hours and earnings series. Consequently, the levels derive directly from the CES sample averages. However, a wedging technique is applied, which is designed to compensate for month-to-month changes in the sample of reporting establishments.

Adjustments

Non-response

The link relative technique avoids the need to make adjustments for missing reports. The reports with data for both the current and previous quarters form a matched sample and their over-the-quarter change is used to move the previous quarter's estimates.

Other bias

Not available.

Use of benchmark data

Annual universe counts, or benchmark levels, are generated as of March of each year, through the Annual Census of Establishments (ACE), which provides complete data on employment and its distribution by sex, full-time and part-time employees, and citizen status.

Seasonal variations

No adjustments are made for seasonal variations.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The Annual Census of Establishments covers about 99 per cent of the target population.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not available.

Non-response rate

Not available.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

Not available.

Available series

Published tables include:

History of the survey

The CES was introduced in 1978. It was conducted on a monthly basis until 1982, then its periodicity was changed to a quarterly survey. Prior to the 1987 SIC revision, the survey results were classified by industry according to the 1972 and 1967 versions of the Manual. In historical series of employment, March data are derived from the ACE, while data for the other quarters are derived from the CES.

Documentation

Guam Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Annual Census of Establishments (Guam). Contains historical series of employment, hours of work and earnings.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

Not available.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The following data derived from the CES survey are published in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: The corresponding quarterly series of paid employment, weekly hours paid for and hourly wages of production and related workers are published in the relevant tables of the Bulletin of Labour Statistics.