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bls-data/qcew_field_schema.md
Dave Boyd 2b9d3e6d68 Initial BLS data reference and DC/MD/VA unemployment dashboard 
Includes:
- API v1/v2 documentation, endpoints, request/response schemas
- Complete survey catalog (60 surveys, live-fetched from API)
- Series ID decode tables: LAUS, CES, SM, QCEW, OES, JOLTS, CPI, PPI
- QCEW quarterly (47 fields) and annual (43 fields) CSV schemas
- dc_md_va_unemployment.py: pulls 16 LAUS series for DC/MD/VA + DC MSA
- Example API response and 5-year CSV output

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-16 11:03:14 -04:00

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QCEW File Field Schemas

Source: https://data.bls.gov/cew/doc/layouts/

QCEW bulk data is available as CSV files by area, by industry, or as singlefiles (no title columns). Download: https://www.bls.gov/cew/downloadable-data-files.htm

Quarterly CSV Field Layout

# Field Name Type Max Len Description
1 area_fips Text 5 5-character FIPS code
2 own_code Text 1 Ownership code
3 industry_code Text 6 NAICS or SuperSector code
4 agglvl_code Text 2 Aggregation level code
5 size_code Text 1 Size code
6 year Text 4 Year
7 qtr Text 1 Quarter (1–4; A for annual)
8 disclosure_code Text 1 ' '=disclosed; N=not disclosed
9 area_title Text 80 Area name (excluded from singlefile)
10 own_title Text 80 Ownership description (excluded from singlefile)
11 industry_title Text 80 Industry description (excluded from singlefile)
12 agglvl_title Text 80 Aggregation level title (excluded from singlefile)
13 size_title Text 80 Size class title (excluded from singlefile)
14 qtrly_estabs Numeric 8 Count of establishments for the quarter
15 month1_emplvl Numeric 9 Employment, month 1 of quarter
16 month2_emplvl Numeric 9 Employment, month 2 of quarter
17 month3_emplvl Numeric 9 Employment, month 3 of quarter
18 total_qtrly_wages Numeric 15 Total wages for the quarter
19 taxable_qtrly_wages Numeric 15 Taxable wages for the quarter
20 qtrly_contributions Numeric 13 UI contributions for the quarter
21 avg_wkly_wage Numeric 8 Average weekly wage for the quarter
22 lq_disclosure_code Text 1 Location quotient disclosure code
23 lq_qtrly_estabs Numeric 8 LQ of establishment count vs. U.S.
24 lq_month1_emplvl Numeric 8 LQ of month 1 employment vs. U.S.
25 lq_month2_emplvl Numeric 8 LQ of month 2 employment vs. U.S.
26 lq_month3_emplvl Numeric 8 LQ of month 3 employment vs. U.S.
27 lq_total_qtrly_wages Numeric 8 LQ of total quarterly wages vs. U.S.
28 lq_taxable_qtrly_wages Numeric 8 LQ of taxable quarterly wages vs. U.S.
29 lq_qtrly_contributions Numeric 8 LQ of quarterly contributions vs. U.S.
30 lq_avg_wkly_wage Numeric 8 LQ of average weekly wage vs. U.S.
31 oty_disclosure_code Text 1 Over-the-year disclosure code
32 oty_qtrly_estabs_chg Numeric 8 OTY change in establishment count
33 oty_qtrly_estabs_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in establishment count
34 oty_month1_emplvl_chg Numeric 9 OTY change in month 1 employment
35 oty_month1_emplvl_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in month 1 employment
36 oty_month2_emplvl_chg Numeric 9 OTY change in month 2 employment
37 oty_month2_emplvl_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in month 2 employment
38 oty_month3_emplvl_chg Numeric 9 OTY change in month 3 employment
39 oty_month3_emplvl_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in month 3 employment
40 oty_total_qtrly_wages_chg Numeric 15 OTY change in total wages
41 oty_total_qtrly_wages_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in total wages
42 oty_taxable_qtrly_wages_chg Numeric 15 OTY change in taxable wages
43 oty_taxable_qtrly_wages_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in taxable wages
44 oty_qtrly_contributions_chg Numeric 13 OTY change in contributions
45 oty_qtrly_contributions_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in contributions
46 oty_avg_wkly_wage_chg Numeric 8 OTY change in avg weekly wage
47 oty_avg_wkly_wage_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in avg weekly wage

Annual CSV Field Layout

# Field Name Type Max Len Description
1 area_fips Text 5 5-character FIPS code
2 own_code Text 1 Ownership code
3 industry_code Text 6 NAICS or SuperSector code
4 agglvl_code Text 2 Aggregation level code
5 size_code Text 1 Size code
6 year Text 4 Year
7 qtr Text 1 Always A for annual
8 disclosure_code Text 1 ' '=disclosed; N=not disclosed
9 area_title Text 80 Area name (excluded from singlefile)
10 own_title Text 80 Ownership description (excluded from singlefile)
11 industry_title Text 80 Industry description (excluded from singlefile)
12 agglvl_title Text 80 Aggregation level title (excluded from singlefile)
13 size_title Text 80 Size class title (excluded from singlefile)
14 annual_avg_estabs Numeric 8 Annual avg of quarterly establishment counts
15 annual_avg_emplvl Numeric 9 Annual avg of monthly employment levels
16 total_annual_wages Numeric 15 Sum of 4 quarterly total wages
17 taxable_annual_wages Numeric 15 Sum of 4 quarterly taxable wages
18 annual_contributions Numeric 13 Sum of 4 quarterly UI contributions
19 annual_avg_wkly_wage Numeric 8 Avg weekly wage based on 12-month employment and total annual wages
20 avg_annual_pay Numeric 8 Avg annual pay (wages ÷ employment)
21 lq_disclosure_code Text 1 LQ disclosure code
22 lq_annual_avg_estabs Numeric 8 LQ of annual avg establishment count vs. U.S.
23 lq_annual_avg_emplvl Numeric 8 LQ of annual avg employment vs. U.S.
24 lq_total_annual_wages Numeric 8 LQ of total annual wages vs. U.S.
25 lq_taxable_annual_wages Numeric 8 LQ of taxable annual wages vs. U.S.
26 lq_annual_contributions Numeric 8 LQ of annual contributions vs. U.S.
27 lq_annual_avg_wkly_wage Numeric 8 LQ of annual avg weekly wage vs. U.S.
28 lq_avg_annual_pay Numeric 8 LQ of avg annual pay vs. U.S.
29 oty_disclosure_code Text 1 OTY disclosure code
30 oty_annual_avg_estabs_chg Numeric 8 OTY change in annual avg estabs
31 oty_annual_avg_estabs_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in annual avg estabs
32 oty_annual_avg_emplvl_chg Numeric 9 OTY change in annual avg employment
33 oty_annual_avg_emplvl_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in annual avg employment
34 oty_total_annual_wages_chg Numeric 15 OTY change in total annual wages
35 oty_total_annual_wages_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in total annual wages
36 oty_taxable_annual_wages_chg Numeric 15 OTY change in taxable annual wages
37 oty_taxable_annual_wages_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in taxable annual wages
38 oty_annual_contributions_chg Numeric 13 OTY change in annual contributions
39 oty_annual_contributions_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in annual contributions
40 oty_annual_avg_wkly_wage_chg Numeric 8 OTY change in annual avg weekly wage
41 oty_annual_avg_wkly_wage_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in annual avg weekly wage
42 oty_avg_annual_pay_chg Numeric 8 OTY change in avg annual pay
43 oty_avg_annual_pay_pct_chg Numeric 8 OTY % change in avg annual pay

Decode Tables

own_code values:

Code Ownership
0 Total, all ownerships
1 Federal government
2 State government
3 Local government
4 International government
5 Private
8 Total, all government
9 Total, all ownerships (same as 0)

agglvl_code examples:

Code Level
10 U.S., NAICS supersectors
11 U.S., NAICS sector
12 U.S., NAICS 3-digit
13 U.S., NAICS 4-digit
14 U.S., NAICS 5-digit
15 U.S., NAICS 6-digit
50 State, NAICS supersectors
51 State, NAICS sector
74 County, NAICS 5-digit
75 County, NAICS 6-digit
76 MSA, NAICS supersectors

size_code values:

Code Employment size class
0 All establishment sizes
1 < 5 employees
2 5–9
3 10–19
4 20–49
5 50–99
6 100–249
7 250–499
8 500–999
9 1,000+

Download URLs

By-area quarterly (single year):

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/files/{YEAR}/csv/{YEAR}_qtrly_by_area.zip

By-industry quarterly:

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/files/{YEAR}/csv/{YEAR}_qtrly_by_industry.zip

Annual singlefile (all areas, all industries, one row per combo):

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/files/{YEAR}/csv/{YEAR}_annual_singlefile.zip

QCEW API (individual series):

https://data.bls.gov/cew/apps/data_views/data_views.htm