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Documentation for CPS Data Used in Chapter 8

Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor

conducts the “Current Population Survey” (CPS), which provides data on labor force

characteristics of the population, including the level of employment, unemployment, and

earnings. Approximately 65,000 randomly selected U.S. households are surveyed each

month. The sample is chosen by randomly selecting addresses from a database

comprised of addresses from the most recent decennial census augmented with data on

new housing units constructed after the last census. The exact random sampling scheme

is rather complicated (first small geographical areas are randomly selected, then housing

units within these areas randomly selected); details can be found in the Handbook of

Labor Statistics and is described on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website

(www.bls.gov).

The survey conducted each March is more detailed than in other months and asks

questions about earnings during the previous year. These data are from the March 2009

survey.

Series in Data Set:

Female 1 if female; 0 if male

Age Age (in Years)

Ahe Average Hourly Earnings in 2004

Yrseduc Years of Education

Northeast 1 if from the Northeast, 0 otherwise

Midwest 1 if from the Midwest, 0 otherwise

South 1 if from the South, 0 otherwise

West 1 if from the West, 0 otherwise