TECHNICAL NOTES AND DEFINITIONS

 

 

         Covered Employment is a monthly count of full and part-time employees, who earned wages during the pay period which includes the 12th of the month, as reported quarterly by employers covered by the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Law.  Basically, any employer paying at least $1,000 in wages in the current or preceding calendar year is covered.  Jobs not covered by the law fall mainly into the categories of self-employed and unpaid family workers or certain agricultural and in-home domestic workers.

 

         For a more detailed description of the exclusions to covered employment, refer to the appendix on page 103.

 

         Since the data represent the aggregate number of jobs reported by individual employers at the workplace, the total job count does not necessarily correspond with the number of actual persons holding jobs.

 

         In the case of workers employed by more than one covered employer during the reference period, a slight overcount in workers will exist.  Conversely, during the course of a year, there may be more workers than jobs due to turnover.

 

    Companies, Establishments, and Units

 

         The data in this publication are tabulated on an establishment or unit, as opposed to a company, basis.  The terms "establishment" and "unit", for purposes of this publication, should be considered synonymous.  An establishment or unit, as defined in the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification Manual, is an economic unit, generally at a single physical location, where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.  A company is a legal entity which, in many cases, is comprised of several physical locations or establishments.

 

         To the extent possible, the data are collected and tabulated on an establishment basis for those companies having more than one establishment or unit operating in New Jersey.  Reporting and data collection difficulties sometimes present problems in adequately distributing the data for the individual establishments of multi-location companies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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    Geographical and Industrial Coding

 

         Based on information furnished by employers covered by New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Law, each account is assigned a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code and a municipality code.  The SIC code, which is based on the Office of Management and Budget's 1987 Standard Industrial Classification Manual, specifies the primary business activity of the firm.  The municipality code designates the physical worksite.  This coding allows for the distribution of data by industry at the county or municipality level.

 

    Undistributed Data

 

         Employer data that could not be assigned to a specific area of the state are labeled "undistributed" in the area tables. Included in this category are statewide sales jobs and promotional agents; service and route persons; short-term contractual workers; and all other covered workers whose place of work could not be precisely determined.

         The table starting on page 90 shows the industry breakdown of those undistributed jobs.

 

    Inconsistencies in Historical Series

 

         Before undertaking any analysis of covered employment data, users should consider the impact that legal and definitional changes, Standard Industrial Classification Manual changes, imperfect employer input and confidentiality provisions have on the data.  Moreover, since covered employment data are collected primarily for unemployment tax administration purposes, no attempt is made to revise previously released data.

         The New Jersey laws defining covered employment have been amended on several occasions.  A significant change occurred in 1969 when coverage was expanded to include employers with one or more employees rather than four or more employees.  This change increased the number of covered reporting units by approximately 64 percent and added approximately 6.5 percent to covered employment totals.  In 1972, non-profit organizations meeting similar requirements were extended coverage and in 1978, virtually all state and local government workers and certain domestic and agricultural workers were added to covered  employment.  In May 1981, all employees of elementary and secondary schools operating under a church charter were dropped from UI coverage.  This change resulted in a loss of approximately 10,000 jobs and 500 units in educational service between September 1980 and September 1981.

 

 

 

 

 

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         Another inconsistency is introduced by periodic changes in industry codes.  The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual used to code business activities has been revised on five occasions since 1941.  Beginning with 1988, covered employment statistics are classified under definitions established with the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual, and may not be strictly comparable to data for prior periods.

 

    Confidentiality Provisions

 

         Because the release of data identifiable to individual employers or employing establishments is generally prohibited, data are not published for industries with less than three employing units or where one employing unit comprises 80 percent or more of the industry, regardless of the total number of units.  The impact of the confidentiality provision is normally felt only at the municipality level, although entire industries may be affected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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